Virtual Showcases

To assist with production, the Lexicon of Swiss Artists launched its own archives in the 1920s. After publication, the documents were kept by Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft. Large sections of these Lexicon archives were gifted to SIK-ISEA in the 1970s.

In 2008 SIK-ISEA received the partial fonds of the Swiss painter Wilhelm Balmer (1865–1922) as a donation from the family estate. The collection includes numerous photographs of private and working life as well as individual sketchbooks by Wilhelm Balmer.

In the early 2010s, SIK-ISEA received the entire correspondence of Otto Charles Bänninger (1897–1973) as a gift from the family estate. The linchpin is Bänninger’s correspondence with the French sculptor Germaine Richier, who was married to him from 1929 until 1951.

SIK-ISEA was first entrusted with the Charles Blanc-Gatti (1890–1966) fonds in the early 1990s. A second, complementary donation followed in the mid-2000s. The abundance and coherence of this archive make it a first-class source for research into musicalist art.

These documents from the estate of Paul Bodmer (1886–1983) were gifted to SIK-ISEA by Zurich Central Library in 2017. Included among the papers are photographs, articles on the scandal that erupted over his murals for the Zurich University, and notes on his frescoes for the city’s Fraumünster church.

In 2019 SIK-ISEA acquired part of the written estate of judge Johann Friedrich Büzberger of Bern. Among the papers are many letters from Ferdinand Hodler, to whom Büzberger was a dear friend and lifelong patron. The letters date from the years 1884–1918.

The archives of artist Maïté Bournoud-Schorp, deposited with SIK-ISEA’s Antenne romande in 2005 by a benefactor whose identity remains unknown, consist of sketchbooks, advertising graphics, illustrations for periodicals and books, and work-related documents, in particular exhibition records.

The fonds relating to the St. Gallen artist Martha Cunz (1876–1961) was handed over to SIK-ISEA in the 1980s and in early 2000. The papers consist mostly of letters busily exchanged between Martha Cunz and her family while she was in Munich.

This extensive collection of papers left by painter Mara Corradini (1880–1964), who lived in Grisons, includes diaries, notebooks, correspondence, catalogues, newspaper cuttings and photographs. The letters exchanged between Corradini and artist friends all over Europe are especially rewarding. SIK-ISEA acquired the documents between 1991 and 2001 as a gift from her niece Paola Starace.

The photographic estate of Walter Dräyer (1911–2000) was gifted to the Swiss Art Archives at SIK-ISEA in the early 2000s. Apart from a very large quantity of negatives, it contains prints, exhibition catalogues, newspaper articles and letters.

In the mid-1980s, the architect, painter, sculptor and teacher Hans Fischli (1909–1989) presented SIK-ISEA with the documents arising from his multi-facetted work. There are architect’s drawings, records of work, photographs and correspondence.

A collection of documents from the estate of Annemie Fontana (1925–2002) was gifted to the Swiss Art Archives at SIK-ISEA in 2015. More than 70 sketchbooks grant profound insights into how the artist worked. The fonds also contains correspondence with personal friends and institutions, a number of photographs and invitations, press reports and publications.

For over 40 years, Peter Friedli (1925–2012), a doctor and photographer in Bern, used his camera to record cultural and political life in Switzerland. In 2005 Friedli gave SIK-ISEA more than a thousand photography portraits of arzists, curators and gallery owners.

Some of the posthumous papers of sculptor Karl Geiser (1898–1957) were given to SIK-ISEA in 2007. The fonds consists above all of letters between Karl Geiser, his family, friends and acquaintances, and clients.

The papers of Augusto Giacometti (1877–1947) arrived at SIK-ISEA in the mid-1960s thanks to a gift from the estate of the art historian Erwin Poeschel. The fonds includes diaries, sketchbooks, manuscripts and typoscripts of speeches, lectures and autobiographical pieces by the artist.

Bruno Giacometti, the youngest son of the artist Giovanni Giacometti (1868–1933), gave SIK-ISEA his father’s ‘Registri dei Quadri’ in 2007. These are the notebooks where the artist recorded his works in Indian ink and coloured pencil, noting alongside each drawing the title of the work, its date and the sale price.

The fonds relating to the gallery owner Roswitha Haftmann (1924–1998) arrived at SIK-ISEA as a gift in the 1990s. Apart from numerous photographs showing Roswitha Haftmann in private, as a model and in her gallery, there are invitations to exhibitions and pictures taken at previews.

In the mid-1980s the City of Zurich donated a section of the artistic estate of Hermann Haller (1880–1950) to SIK-ISEA. This archive includes numerous glass negatives and photographic prints depicting works by Hermann Haller and views of his studio. There are also letters he received and the diploma accompanying the Art Prize awarded to him by the City of Zurich.

A number of documents from the estate of Emanuel Jacob (1917–1966) were gifted to SIK-ISEA in 1981 by his widow Elisabeth Jacob. A second gift from the family followed in 2001. Especially valuable are Jacob’s many diaries and his writings on art theory, which permit insights into his character and his creative work.

The painter, writer and art critic Walter Kern (1898–1966) was a prolific letter-writer all his life. When preparing for a publication or an exhibition, he above all corresponded with artists. In the late 2000s, SIK-ISEA acquired all the artists’ letters as a gift from the family estate.

SIK-ISEA’s first managing director, Marcel Fischer, made it a lifetime project to study the Zurich animal painter Rudolf Koller (1828–1905). A particularly fertile source were Koller’s letters to his fellow-painter Ernst Stückelberg. In the mid-1960s, after Fischer’s death, the documents were donated to SIK-ISEA.

The posthumous papers of painter Reinhold Kündig (1888–1984), held by SIK-ISEA since the mid-1980s, include not only diaries and sketchbooks, but also several hundred handwritten letters from fellow-artists Hermann Huber, Otto Meyer-Amden, Cuno Amiet, Willy Baumeister and Oskar Schlemmer.

The private archive of André Kamber (1932–2021) was donated to SIK-ISEA in 2021. This fonds contains a great abundance of material from numerous Swiss artists. Kamber’s posthumous papers consist primarily of correspondence with these artists, including well-known iron sculptors, Fluxus associates, plastic artists and adherents of Nouveau Réalisme. Kamber was variously involved in the activities of the Swiss art community from the 1960s onwards, as his archive testifies.

In the early 1980s, the family of Hermann Huber (1888–1967) gave SIK-ISEA the correspondence between Otto Meyer-Amden (1885–1933) and Hermann Huber, which is of tremendous value to researchers. More than 300 letters from Meyer-Amden and over 60 letters from Huber have survived.

The posthumous papers of painter and art critic Charles Montag (1880–1956) include a large number of documents about the organisation of exhibitions, as well as personal photos and correspondence with his family and with collectors. The fonds was gifted to SIK-ISEA in the early 1980s.

The fonds relating to the Lucerne painter Max von Moos (1903–1979) was passed on to SIK-IKEA in the early 1980s. It includes the artist’s business correspondence, records of family history and numerous documents arising from his post as a teacher at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Lucerne.

The posthumous papers of Otto Münch (1885–1965) were gifted to SIK-ISEA’s Swiss Art Archives in 2005. Apart from a full photographic record of his works, there are systematic cash books, day books, order books and address lists.

In 2013 SIK-ISEA acquired the photographic estate of Basel art critic Maria Netter (1917–1982) on permanent loan from the foundation Fotostiftung Schweiz. The collection consists of approximately 2,000 films with contact prints. It offers intimate and multi-facetted insights into the avant-garde art scene in Switzerland and abroad between the 1940s and the late 1970s.

In the late 1980s, SIK-ISEA obtained the posthumous papers of Fritz Pauli (1891–1968), who both painted and drew. Of particular interest is his prolific correspondence with friends and relations, collectors and clients.

The painter Petra Petitpierre (1905–1959) attended the Bauhaus in Dessau in the late 1920s, taking classes with Paul Klee in particular. Her lecture notes, donated to SIK-ISEA, are a significant record of Klee’s teachings on artistic design and colour theory.

Documents left by the Zurich painter Secondo Püschel (1931–1997) were given to SIK-ISEA in the early 2010s. They include letters and photographs from his private circle, business correspondence with galeries and art historians, invitations, newspaper articles and catalogues of works.

Papers from the estate of the painter and illustrator Alfred Heinrich Pellegrini (1881–1958) of Basel were given to SIK-ISEA by his family between 2011 and 2015. With an abundance of correspondence, press articles and sketches, the fonds offers wide-ranging insights into Pellegrini’s work.

In 1985 SIK-ISEA received a segment of the estate of Ernst Georg Rüegg (1883–1948) as a gift from Irène Rüegg. The bulk of the fonds consists of 33 sketchbooks and a substantial number of manuscripts by the artist. The holdings also contain correspondence, photographic studies and personal teaching documents.

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.

In 2013 and 2014 SIK-ISEA acquired a number of papers from the former estates of Ilonay (1889–1971) and Johann von Tscharner (1886–1946). The fonds consists of thirteen boxes with a diversity of documents ranging from sketchbooks and photographs to correspondence. These extensive archives offer profound insights into the couple’s life and work.

The posthumous papers of André Thomkins (1930–1985) passed into the safekeeping of the Swiss Art Archives in early 2000. The fonds consists of documentary material about projects and exhibitions and the artist’s copious correspondence with numerous men and women in the contemporary art scene.

The posthumous papers of the Lucerne artist Aldo Walker (1938–2000) were gifted to SIK-ISEA in 2000 and have since been held at the Institute. They include early studies for conceptual works, documents relating to commissions, project drawings, competition entries, and correspondence with artists, curators and art theorists.

The partial collection of Shizuko Yoshikawa (1934–2019) was donated to the Swiss Art Archives (SIK-ISEA) in 2023 by the Shizuko Yoshikawa and Josef Müller-Brockmann Foundation. It includes numerous correspondences, among them letters from Japan, as well as exchanges with renowned Swiss artists of Concrete Art, such as Max Bill, Richard Paul Lohse, and Camille Graeser.