Welti's wondrous dream worlds

They are an expression of overflowing imagination: Swiss artist Albert Welti (1862-1912) gave free rein to his imagination in his graphic works. They served as a creative outlet for him when he was at an impasse with commissioned works or paintings, for example. Welti accepted every offer for graphic design: Among other things, he designed posters, invitation cards and New Year's cards. In this respect, he also ignored his great artistic role model Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901), who tried to dissuade Welti from graphic design in order to devote himself entirely to more noble painting. Welti's graphic work is characterized not only by bold ideas and bizarre creatures, but also by a particularly sarcastic sense of humor. As the artist's graphic works have received very little attention in comparison to his paintings, the Kunsthaus Zürich is now organizing the exhibition Albert Welti. Imprints of the fantastic with works from its own extensive collection. Welti's works will be presented alongside prints by other artists from the period in order to demonstrate his originality in an impressive and comprehensible way. The show will be on display from November 15, 2024 to February 9, 2025. Public guided tours will take place on November 16, December 8, January 10 and February 1.

Welti often depicted dream and nightmare scenes, drawing inspiration from fairy tales, sagas and legends. Although he recognized artistic qualities in new art movements such as Impressionism, he was critical of their great successes. Stylistically, he oriented himself towards past eras and, combined with imagination and humor, developed an idiosyncratic artistic expression, which, however, also met with some harsh criticism. Around 1900, he completed several large state painting commissions and was considered one of the most important painters in the country during these years.