Fritz Glarner
Fritz Glarus ( born July 20, 1899 in Zurich, Switzerland, † September 18, 1972 in Locarno ) was a Swiss- American painter.
Life
Glarus was born the son of a mill constructors in Zurich. He spent his childhood and youth in Naples and France. With his artistic training Glarus began in 1914, with a study of painting at the "Regio Istituto di Belle Arti" in Naples. He worked himself from 1917 in Sarno as an art teacher. In 1923 he moved to Paris and continued his art education at the Académie Colarossi 1924-1926 continued. Glarus began in Paris connections to the representatives of the artistic avant-garde building.
In 1928 he married the American Wonsky Louise Powell and took with her from 1930 to 1931 a study trip to the U.S., where he made first contacts with collectors and artists, especially with Piet Mondrian and other members of the De Stijl group. Piet Mondrian was very influenced Glarner artistic work. 1933 joined Glarus in Paris at the Abstraction-Création group. He exhibited several times along with other artists in this group. In 1935 Glarus lived again for a short time in Zurich. In 1936 he emigrated with his wife to New York and in 1944 became a U.S. citizen.
Glarus was one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism and is counted among the so-called Zurich Concrete. The artistic roots of this movement are, in addition to the relations with De Stijl in the principles of the Bauhaus, where several artists had studied. Max Bill also was one of the " Zurich Concrete ", and Glarus held despite his emigration to America still in close contact with him. Other Zurich Concrete were, for example, Richard Paul Lohse, Verena Loewensberg and Camille Graeser.
In 1936 Glarus participated in the exhibition "Time Problems in Swiss painting and sculpture " part at the Kunsthaus Zurich. In 1937 he joined the artists' association alliance. In the U.S. Glarus has to earn his living with portraiture in the beginning nevertheless. His painting he practiced in parallel. He was from 1938 to 1944 member of the " AAA" (American Abstract Artists ). With Piet Mondrian he maintained a lively exchange of ideas.
In the 40s found Glarus to his own special " constructive-concrete " imagery. He called this concept image " Relational Painting".
In 1957 he moved with studio and home to Huntington on Long Iceland. In New York, he had also produced large-scale murals, for example in 1958 in the lobby of the Time & Life Building and 1961 in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at UN Headquarters and in 1963-64 the dining room ( " Rockefeller Dining Room " ) Nelson Rockefeller's New York city apartment. His painting was now internationally known. Glarus in 1955 participated in the documenta 1 in Kassel and represented 1964 and 1968 officially Switzerland at the Venice Biennale.
After a serious accident in 1966, while the return journey to America on the ship, he could hardly put even his painting. Five years later, in 1971, Glarus returned with his wife to return to Switzerland. He died a year later on 18 September 1972 in Locarno.