Otto Tschumi

Otto Tschumi (* August 4, 1904 in Bittwil, community Seeberg; † 18 February 1985 in Bern ) was a Swiss painter. He is considered one of the most important representatives of surrealism in Switzerland.

Life

Tschumi grew up in modest circumstances on in the city of Bern, where he attended the compulsory schools. Training for the sign painter and lithographer for he broke off. Nevertheless, he could earn his living as a graphic artist. Self-taught, he began to develop in the 1920s, his style as a painter. He married in 1933, the dancer Beatrice Good art, with which he remained together until his death. From 1936 to 1940 he lived in Paris. Under the influence of Max Ernst, Hans Arp and other Surrealists, he was at this time to his own design.

In 1946 he was able to exhibit for the first time at the Kunsthalle Bern. After that was devoted to his work every few years a major solo exhibition in Switzerland. Internationally, he was in the 1950s and at the latest in 1960 with his contribution to the Biennale di Venezia known. After his death, he was recognized in retrospectives at the Kunstmuseum Bern and at the Kunsthalle Nürnberg 1987.