Franz Gertsch – Blow-Up (Part II), Museum Franz Gertsch
We are pleased to announce a solo exhibition of Franz Gertsch at the Museum Franz Gertsch in Burgdorf from September 19th, 2026 to February 28th, 2027.
“The focus at the Museum Franz Gertsch is on a selection of paintings and subjects the artist produced between 1970 and 2021: The first room is dedicated to the rock poet Patti Smith, whom Franz Gertsch portrayed five times between 1978 and 1979.
The second room features portraits of a young Luciano Castelli. Franz Gertsch painted the artist from Lucerne thirteen times between 1971 and 1977.
The group of works in the third exhibition room revolves around Irene Staub. She belonged to Luciano Castelli’s circle of friends and was known as a high-class sex worker in Zurich who went by the name “Lady Shiva”.
The fourth room showcases large-format paintings featuring Franz Gertsch’s central models 'Johanna' (1983–1985) and 'Silvia' (1998–2004), as well as important landscape motifs the artist revisited time and again, both in his paintings and in his woodcuts: Waldweg (Campiglia Marittima) [Forest Path (Campiglia Marittima)] and Gräser [Grasses]. These themes, as well as Silvia, Pestwurz [Butterbur], Sommer [Summer], and Meer [Sea] also feature in a collection of woodcuts presented in the smaller rooms in the annex of the Museum Franz Gertsch.”
Patti Smith IV, 1979, acrylic on unprimed cotton, 285 × 420 cm, private collection, Switzerland
© Franz Gertsch AG