Services

Photo archiving of Swiss art

Do you need pictures of Swiss art? Are you looking for portraits of key figures in the Swiss art community? Do you require digital files for a publication or for your own records? Our Photo Archive provides high-resolution, print-quality picture files.

Ferdinand Hodler, Thunersee mit Spiegelung, 1904, oil on canvas, 89 x 100 cm, private collection (archive number 9163)

Félix Edouard Vallotton, Poivrons rouges, 1915, oil on canvas, 46 x 55 cm, Kunstmuseum Solothurn (archive number 37481)

Johann Heinrich Füssli, Handstudien, around 1775–1779, pencil on paper, 17,1 x 23,4 cm, Museum Oskar Reinhart am Stadtgarten, Winterthur (archive number 9089)

Albert Anker, Schlafendes Mädchen auf einer Holzbank, around 1900, oil on canvas, 45 x 70 cm, private collection (archive number 1210310002)

Maria Netter, Alberto Giacometti in seinem Atelier, Paris, 25.10.1955, Black & White Photography, SIK-ISEA, Courtesy Fotostiftung Schweiz (archive number 1407240005)

We can offer you:

  • a unique collection of about 100,000 photographs of Swiss art from the Middle Ages to the present day. You will find a selection at www.sikart.ch
  • access on request to all our photographic holdings
  • documentary photographs to illustrate life in the arts in Switzerland from the 1940s to the 1990s. You will find a selection at www.maria-netter.ch
  • provision of image data including picture caption
  • assistance with picture searches or clarifying image rights/copyright
  • advice on how to store and digitise analogue art reproductions

 We look forward to hearing from you.

Contact

Alice Jaeckel, picture editor (MAZ graduate)
T +41 44 388 51 07; photoarchiving@sik-isea.ch

Price list for Photo Archive / Image processing

For professional art photography please contact our photographer Martin Stollenwerk (T +41 44 388 51 75; photography@sik-isea.ch).

[in German] Wasser

Das kühle Nass lockt uns während des Sommers an die unzähligen Gewässer in der Schweiz oder weiter weg ans Meer. Gerade in den heissen Monaten haben jedoch viele Länder mit Wasserknappheit zu kämpfen, was uns die Lebensnotwendigkeit dieses wertvollen Guts für Mensch und Natur immer wieder vergegenwärtigt. In der Kunst lässt sich eine vielseitige Auseinandersetzung mit dem Element Wasser beobachten: das Wasser als Naturphänomen, als erfrischendes Vergnügen, als Transport- und Handelsweg und nicht zuletzt als unentbehrlicher Stoff für die Existenz aller Lebenswesen. Eine Auswahl von Werken finden Sie in unserem Fotoarchiv.

[in German] Wasser
Glorious colour
Where would art be without colour? In Expressionism it is a powerful key to meaning, in Concrete Art it plays a significant role alongside form, and in monochromatic painting it enjoys autonomous status. Our Photo Archive has reproductions of works by artists who skilfully explore the many facets of colour and its interplay with shapes and materials. It is well worth delving deeper.
Glorious colour
Snow
We expect it at this time every year: snow. Many look forward to its white splendour as it conjures up beautiful winter landscapes. Others worry when the snow falls, as this natural element conceals a tremendous destructive power. Artists depict snow in all its diversity – you might find some surprising motifs in our Photo Archive.
Snow
Town & Country Life
Our artists take a differentiated view of urban and rural life past and present. Browse through the abundant material in our Photo Archive for insights into such matters as the politics, jobs and entertainments that flavour the lives of people in town and country.
Town & Country Life
Frauen, femmes, donne, dunnas
To mark the 50th anniversary of votes for women in Switzerland, the Photo Archive presents a selection of works reflecting the multi-faceted creativity of female Swiss artists.
Frauen, femmes, donne, dunnas
Light – Shadow
Expressive interplay between light and shadow is an important device in fine art. We can see how artists have put this technique to good effect in, for example, a sea of lights in the city at night, in glittering reflections on a dress and in the intensity of a painted sunset. You will find a selection of works on this theme in our Photo Archive.
Light – Shadow
Poverty – Riches
Artists have always had a sharp and empathetic eye for social, political and economic conditions. Images of poverty, misery and deprivation contrast with pictures of prosperity, power and abundance. You will find a selection of works on these themes in our Photo Archive.
Poverty – Riches
«The soul of the painter and the painting is certainly the colour […].»
This was Augusto Giacometti’s ode to colour in a diary entry during the 20th Venice Biennale (1936). Exploring colour was a constant thread, rich in variation, throughout his artistic career. The evolution of the autonomous avant-garde work owes much to this artist. SIK-ISEA is devoting a catalogue raisonné to his œuvre.
«The soul of the painter and the painting is certainly the colour […].»
Off to the country
Many of us will probably spend our summer holidays this year in our own country. For inspiration about future excursions to the surrounding countryside it is worth delving into our lavishly stocked Photo Archive, which has a wide range of Swiss landscapes.
Off to the country
Looking in the mirror
From Narcissus reflected in the water to self-portraits in the looking-glass – artists use mirrors in many different ways to express vanity, introspection, self-knowledge and beauty. Moments of deep intimacy grow from self-contemplation. You will find a selection of art works featuring looks in the mirror in our Photo Archive.
Looking in the mirror
A Feast for the Eyes
Eating is essential. Food keeps us busy every day. We might whip up a quick meal or slowly relish the cooking, serving up and enjoyment. Meals are a feast for the senses. Artists have celebrated this theme abundantly in many ways. You will find a selection of art works about food in our Photo Archive.
A Feast for the Eyes
Family
«All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.» (Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Penguin Classics 2004) With those opening words Leo Tolstoy established the central theme of his famous novel Anna Karenina – a theme which has also intrigued fine artists. You will find a selection of art works about families in our Photo Archive.
Family
At Home
Home is a private haven, a place to ourselves, or to be with family and friends. A place to read, write, play and hear music, enjoy a game in good company, or simply look out of the window and dream. You will find a selection of art works on this theme in our Photo Archive.
At Home
Impressions of spring
Nature has begun to wake up: blossoming fruit trees, colourful flowerbeds, sunny blue skies. Spring in all its facets is celebrated in many works of art. You will find a selection of spring scenes in our Photo Archive.
Impressions of spring