Virtual Showcases

In 2015 the literary estate of Hugo Schuhmacher (1939–2002) was bequeathed to the Swiss Art Archives of SIK-ISEA. It contains the correspondence of the Zurich artist from 1963 to 2000, invitation and visiting cards, postcards as well as some photographs.

In the late 1890s, painter Giovanni Segantini (1858–1899) was working on an idea for a monumental panorama of the Engadine. The project was conceived for the world exhibition in Paris, but it was never implemented. The documents for this project were handed over to SIK-ISEA in the mid-1950s.

This fonds contains some of the papers left behind by the Lucerne sculptor Hugo Siegwart (1865–1938). Apart from exhibition documents, it primarily consists of correspondence with his family and artists in his circle of friends, such as Ferdinand Hodler, Cuno Amiet and Giovanni Giacometti. The gift to SIK-ISEA from the family estate was made in the mid-1960s.

In 1967 Silvia Steiner (1933–2012) opened her gallery in Biel/Bienne, which she managed for 45 years. Nearly 300 exhibitions were mounted during this period, and each one was recorded in photographs, lists of works, accompanying texts and newspaper articles. The documentation was gifted to SIK-ISEA from the estate.

In the early 2000s, the posthumous papers of the Zurich artist Carlotta Stocker (1921–1972) were gifted to SIK-ISEA. The fonds includes photographs, private and professional correspondence, contracts, catalogues, press cuttings and documentation of her works.

Some of the papers left by the Basel painter Ernst Stückelberg (1831–1903) were entrusted to SIK-ISEA in the 1950s and 1980s. This fonds consists principally of letters and (partly handwritten) records casting light on his works and his biography. There are also photographs of works, invitations and press folders.

In 2001 and in 2005, the records of the Vaud, Geneva and Neuchâtel sections of the Swiss Society of Women Artists were placed in the Swiss Art Archives. These fonds, containing membership lists, articles of association, minutes, letters and catalogues, facilitate the exploration of a still relatively unknown yet crucial aspect of Swiss art history.