Verena Loewensberg (1912-1986): Untitled (1966)

Artist
Verena Loewensberg
 
Title
Untitled
 
Medium
Silkscreen print
 
Material 
Paper
 
Dimensions
28 x 28 cm
 
Editor
Edition Panderma, Basel
 
Year
1966
 
Signature
Signed in pencil 
 
Provenance
Edition Panderma, Carl Laszlo, Basel
Galerie von Bartha, Basel
Private Collection, Basel
 
Condition / Restauration 
mint archival condition 
 
Biography: 
 
Verena Loewensberg was born in Zurich in 1912 and died there 1986. Her father, Paul Loewensberg, son of an immigrant German-Jewish family of grain merchants, is a physician. Her mother, Erika Idda Spühler, also studies medicine until the birth of Verena, who is followed by three siblings. From 1912 to 1914, the family lives in Berlin, moving to the Ticino in 1915 and settling in Sissach (Canton of Basel-Land) in 1918. There, Paul Loewensberg opens a country medical practice. Having attended the grammar school (Untere Töchterschule) in Basel, Verena joins the Basel Vocational School (Gewerbeschule) in 1927, studying the general subjects of weaving, embroidery, design and colour theory. In 1929 she leaves the school before completing her studies; apprenticeship with the weaver Martha Guggenbühl in Speicher (Appenzell Ausserrhoden), dance training with Trudi Schoop in Zurich. In 1932, she marries Hans Coray, who holds a doctorate in Romance philology and is the designer, among other things, of the Landi chair. In 1933, they stay together in Ascona-Saleggi, returning to Zurich in 1934. Contacts with artists from various fields; lifelong friendship with Max and Binia Bill. 1935, trip to Paris and brief studies at the Académie Moderne, an art school founded by a Swiss woman, Edvige Schläpfer, as a result of her contacts with the circle of the Abstraction-Création group of artists. Disappointed by the school’s academic approach, Verena Loewensberg abandons her studies without further ado. Max Bill, himself a member of Abstraction-Création, takes her with him on studio visits; she thus becomes familiar with the work of various artists such as Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamps, Antoine Pevsner, Theo van Doesburg and Georges Vantongerloo. The work of the two latter artists in particular is to have an inspirational effect on her own œuvre. She is admitted to avant-garde circles in Zurich and becomes a member of the group known from the 1950s onwards as the Zurich Concretists (Max Bill, Camille Graeser, Richard Paul Lohse). In 1936, she is represented at the pioneering exhibition Zeitprobleme in der Schweizer Malerei und Plastik (Time Problems in Swiss Painting and Sculpture) at the Kunsthaus Zürich; in 1937, she is a member of the Allianz group of artists. She participates in their exhibitions and publications (Almanach neuer Kunst in der Schweiz, 1940; abstrakt/konkret bulletin published by the Galerie des Eaux-Vives, Zurich, 1945). 1943, birth of son Stephan, followed in 1946 by daughter Henriette. Verena Loewensberg earns her living as a textile and graphic designer, collaborating with Hans Coray, particularly on exhibition structures. In 1949, she divorces Hans Coray. In 1953, she marries Alfons (Föns) Wickart. In 1964, her passion for classical and contemporary music leads her to open the record shop City Discount, which remains a meeting point for the Swiss music scene until it closes down in 1970. From 1970, Loewensberg concentrates exclusively on fine art. Between 1977 and 1980, she travels to numerous destinations, including France, Italy, Ireland, the United States and Japan. In 1966, she executes her only on-site artwork, a ceiling painting in the Church of St. Michael in Zollikerberg. 1969–1976, member of the Swiss Federal Art Commission. Verena Loewensberg is buried in Zurich. Her cenotaph is in the city’s Sihlfeld Cemetery. (Text by Elisabeth Grossmann, 2012)