Works by Franz Gertsch

Tireless in his creative urge, Franz Gertsch (born 1930) turned his attention to a new group of works after completing his Four Seasons series with “Frühling” [Spring] (2010/11). The subject of “Maria” is already familiar from a woodcut completed exactly ten years earlier that was not intended as a part of a triptych, but rather as an homage to the artist’s wife in which the two major themes of Franz Gertsch’s artistic work – landscape and portraiture – merge. In “Maria (Guadeloupe)” (2011/12), it now concerns the middle painting of a triptych dealing with the cycle of life under the heading “Becoming – Being – Decaying.” With its larger than life-sized sensuality, the monumental nude portrait “Maria”, which was executed after a photograph taken on Guadeloupe, takes centre stage. On time for the tenth anniversary in November 2012, the museum also unveiled the second completed painting. “Bromelia (Guadeloupe)” (2012) fascinates with its depiction of an opulent Caribbean landscape featuring the brilliant red flower of a blossoming bromelia plant. The third work completing the triptych is presented in the Museum Franz Gertsch from July 2013. “Soufrière (Guadeloupe)” (2012/13) abducts the viewer to the marshier depths of Caribbean vegetation with its large-leaved plants and ferns. Framed by a delicate blue sky and moist earth, the cycles of nature and life are made sensually tangible here as well.

Next to the Guadeloupe triptych, "Herbst" [Autumn] (2007/08), "Sommer" [Summer] (2008/09) and "Frühling" [Spring] (2009-11) are on display. The painting "Winter" (2009) is currently not exhibited.