Due to the new lockdown of the museums, Hibou Pèlerin has been forced to take a compulsory break. He is using this time to read some new publications on cultural history. A brand new world history of the museum by Krzysztof Pomian has him riveted.
A stained-glass work of exceptional artistic quality dating from 1588, on permanent loan from the Swiss National Museum, adds a touch of dramatic beauty to the Ittinger Museum in the Kartause Ittingen.
In 1929, mountain film pioneer Arnold Fanck shot his global hit The White Hell of Piz Palü in southern Graubünden. The secret star of filming was the Bernina railway, a track system that could handle tough winter operation.
What images of a man’s role were disseminated in Switzerland’s mainstream visual media in the 1950s? After the war ended, people were looking for alternatives to the traditional image of the family man, and a lot of men found themselves standing at the kitchen stove.
The legends of the saints are written without footnotes. They can’t be checked and verified. The significance of these legends lies in the moral ideal that lives on in elaborate portrayals as a gentle entreaty to follow their saintly example.
In Milan, Fondazione Prada’s ‘Porcelain Room’ is shining a spotlight on a particularly significant chapter in the history of globalisation. It’s also a story of design tailored to the tastes of customers willing to pay a premium for what they want.
In Brazil, illustrator and graphic artist Oswaldo Goeldi is considered a master of the art of expressionist xylography – the art of engraving on wood. In Switzerland, the work of this Swiss-Brazilian dual national is yet to be discovered.
