Leo Leuppi

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Leo Leuppi (1893–1972) was a Swiss painter, graphic artist, sculptor and representative of the Zürcher Schule der Konkreten. He was a founder of the avant-garde artists' associations Groupe Suisse Abstraction et Surréalisme and Allianz .

Switzerland federal republic in Central Europe

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in western, central, and southern Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The sovereign state is a federal republic bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million people is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities are to be found: among them are the two global cities and economic centres Zürich and Geneva.

Painting Practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and airbrushes, can be used. The final work is also called a painting.

Graphic arts processes and techniques for making images that depend upon line and not color to render the design

A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface. The term usually refers to the arts that rely more on line or tone than on colour, especially drawing and the various forms of engraving; it is sometimes understood to refer specifically to printmaking processes, such as line engraving, aquatint, drypoint, etching, mezzotint, monotype, lithography, and screen printing. Graphic art further includes calligraphy, photography, painting, typography, computer graphics, and bindery. It also encompasses drawn plans and layouts for interior and architectural designs.

Contents

Life

Leo Leuppi came from a peasant family with many children. From 1910 to 1914 he attended the class for graphic arts at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. [1]

Kunstgewerbeschule 19th and 20th century German colleges of the arts with a focus in the field of applied arts

A Kunstgewerbeschule was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for these schools. From the 1920s and after World War II, most of them either merged into universities or closed, although some continued until the 1970s.

At the end of the First World War he made contact with the Dada movement and became friends with Jean Arp. In 1934 he founded the Groupe Suisse Abstraction et Surréalisme to help the modern art movements break through to cultural institutions. In 1936 Leuppi was presented progressive Swiss artists to the wider public for the first time with the exhibition Zeitprobleme in der Schweizer Malerei und Plastik.

Dada avant-garde art movement in the early 20th century

Dada or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centers in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire ; New York Dada began circa 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris. Developed in reaction to World War I, the Dada movement consisted of artists who rejected the logic, reason, and aestheticism of modern capitalist society, instead expressing nonsense, irrationality, and anti-bourgeois protest in their works. The art of the movement spanned visual, literary, and sound media, including collage, sound poetry, cut-up writing, and sculpture. Dadaist artists expressed their discontent with violence, war, and nationalism, and maintained political affinities with the radical far-left.

Jean Arp Alsatian, sculptor, painter, poet and abstract artist

Jean Arp or Hans Arp was a German-French sculptor, painter, poet, and abstract artist in other media such as torn and pasted paper.

In 1937, together with Richard Paul Lohse, he launched Die Allianz, an association of modern Swiss artists. [2] After many exhibitions, in 1954 Leuppi resigned as president of Allianz.

Richard Paul Lohse was a Swiss painter and graphic artist and one of the main representatives of the concrete and constructive art movements.

From 1959 to 1960 Leuppi taught experimental design in the Fashion Department at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich.

In 1963 he gave up his studio on Mühlebachstrasse in Zurich and moved to Krankenheim Bombach, Höngg.

Work

Leuppi was one of the most important pioneers of modern art in Switzerland. His ability to present Die Allianz, in which representatives of opposing art movements such as constructivism, concrete art and surrealism merged, was also reflected in his own work: combining the undogmatic style of constructive principles with surrealistic moments.

The cubism of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Juan Gris led Leuppi to abstraction. From 1937 to 1947, his works were characterized by a constructive nature, where it differs from Max Bill, Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

Walter Bodmer and Jean Arp were inspired by his work.

Leuppi is also well known for his public artworks such as the iron sculpture on the façade of the Migros building in Thun (1955), the wall mosaic at Schulhaus Kolbenacker in Zürich (1955–57) and the mural in the entrance hall of Alterssiedlung Gsteigstrasse in Höngg (1956–57).

Thun Place in Bern, Switzerland

Thun is a town and a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland with about 43,783 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2013.

Höngg quarter of the city of Zurich, Switzerland

Zürich (Höngg) is a quarter in district 10 in Zürich.

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References

  1. ↑ "Leo LEUPPI (1893-1972)". Hanina Fine Arts. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "Lohse, Short Biography" . Retrieved 19 May 2015.

WikiArt is an online, user-editable visual art encyclopedia. Based upon a statement in its 2013 financial report, the site appears to have been online since 2010. They claim to have reached 75,000 paintings as of June 2012..

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