LUCERNE.- The 2017 Collection Presentation takes a look at what we do from morning to night, be it at work, in school, on the road or in our leisure time. But do art and everyday life go together? Is not art about the beautiful, true and good, while everyday life is about everything else? For a long time, normal life, far removed from great deeds of heroism, seemed to unaspiring for art. At the end of the 18th century a true work of art in the classical sense was still an immaculate construct showing no signs of the tedious process of its production. In terms of content, the artworks were supposed to address only heroic, historical or religious themes and not show ordinary people’s everyday life. But with the political and social upheavals around 1800, artists gradually discovered the everyday and took a stand in their art on topical phenomena and problems.

Meantime, everyday life with all its worries and joys is a theme that artists deal with in many ways and in the most diverse media. In its depictions of the everyday, art is also a mirror of its time. They highlight changes in life, in work and in leisure-time activities. We satisfy our everyday needs in life with all kinds of occupations and activities and fulfil our obligations. Moreover, we also structure our time this way, making contacts, ensuring recuperation, creating community and not least – although much is routine – joie de vivre.

In this exhibition, organizers have gathered representations of aspects of the everyday ranging from the Middle Ages to today, be it a midday break in the fields, children playing soccer in Brazil, an evening get together in the local pub or the Gotthard post chaise in winter. The exhibition is as diverse as life itself, here and elsewhere, in former times and today. Idealised views of country life contrast with urban hustle and bustle, a tranquil still life with strenuous work. Paintings by famous Swiss artists like Rudolf Koller, Giovanni Giacometti or Ferdinand Hodler encounter contemporary works such as the video installation by Dias & Riedweg or Beat Streuli’s photo-series from New York.

Artists in the exhibition: Albert Anker, August Babberger, Hans Bachmann, Maurice Barraud, Auguste BaudBovy, Arnold Böcklin, Adolphe Braun, Heidi Bucher, Eugène Burnand, Paul Camenisch, Heinrich Danioth, Maurício Dias & Walter Riedweg, Anthony Douglas Cragg, Charles Georges Dufresne, Raoul Dufy, Franz Eggenschwiler, Franz Elmiger, Hans Emmenegger, James Ensor, Alois Fellmann, Terry Fox, Auguste Garcin, Giovanni Giacometti, Wilhelm Gimmi, Konrad Grob, Leopold Haefliger, Eberhard Havekost, Ferdinand Hodler, Rudolf Koller, Max Liebermann, Johann Baptist Marzohl, Moriz Melzer, Constantin Meunier, Max von Moos, Max Pechstein, Clara Reinhard, Jean Renggli d. Ä., Peter Roehr, Dieter Roth, Sandra Schindler, Karl Friedrich Schobinger, Xaver Schwegler, Moritz von Schwind, Hugo Siegwart, Chaïm Soutine, José Julio de Souza Pinto, Friedrich Stirnimann, Beat Streuli, Hugo Suter, Wilhelm Trübner, Maurice Utrillo, Maurice de Vlaminck, , Charles Wyrsch, Joseph Zelger, Robert Zünd

Curated by Heinz Stahlhut