Franz Gertsch (1930–2022)

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Swiss artist Markus Raetz as you may never have seen him before: aged just 29, wearing a faded denim jacket and with long hair, very much in keeping with the style of the 1970s. Gertsch captured his friend Raetz’s temperament perfectly: thoughtful, his gaze lowered, quiet and introspective, with a hint of a smile – qualities that also characterised his art.

The photographs that served as the basis for this painting, as well as the other two works displayed here, were taken on 10 May 1970 in Kranenburg, a small town on the German–Dutch border. Gertsch had travelled there with several fellow artists from the emerging Swiss art scene to visit an exhibition by Franz Eggenschwiler. He later recalled:

'There were only three snapshots. First, we stopped for a beer in a pub in Kranenburg. That’s where I photographed Markus Raetz and Urs Lüthi.'

Lüthi’s portrait is on display opposite. On the way to the exhibition, Gertsch then took the photograph that became the basis for Kranenburg, which is shown here in the centre. Later that same year, Gertsch added a third artist’s portrait to these striking images of Raetz and Lüthi: that of the Swiss painter Jean-Frédéric Schnyder. 

'I wanted to portray life – freedom and sensuousness – and that simply wasn’t possible with someone who worked at a bank. My artist friends were much more suitable victims. (…) There was a real sense of new beginnings. And I think that it was around this time that Markus Raetz really became Markus Raetz. What he had done before was very important, but I believe this was the time when he truly became Markus Raetz.'

Markus Raetz, from Bern, was one of Switzerland’s leading contemporary artists and enjoyed international acclaim. Three years ago, the Kunstmuseum Bern devoted a major retrospective to this sensitive artist, who died in 2020.

Raetz also appears in the painting Kranenburg, on the far left. Beside him are Jean-Christophe Ammann, director of the Kunstmuseum Luzern, the gallerist Pablo Stähli, the photographer Balthasar Burkhard, and, on the far right, the Dutch artist Ritsaert ten Cate. Walking ahead of them are Monika Raetz and Maria Gertsch. Full of energy and confidence, the group embodies the spirit of a young generation of Swiss artists looking to the future.

The next stop on the audio guide tour is in the first gallery, just beside the glass door through which you entered the exhibition. There, you will see Franz Gertsch’s earliest works.