Swiss surrealism: where the imaginary becomes real

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Isabelle Waldberg, Portrait of Marcel Duchamp on an old Chinese chessboard with two pieces and two sculptures, circa 1978; Portrait Duchamp, 1958 5 objects made of bronze, marble, iron, wood, painted and aluminium on an old Chinese wooden chessboard, lacquered, 19 x 44 x 44 cm Berne Art Museum (2018, ProLitteris, Zürich) ProLitteris, Zürich

Alberto Giacometti, Fleur en danger, 1932 wood, plaster, wire and string, 56 x 78 x 18 cm Kunsthaus Zürich, Alberto Giacometti Foundation (Succession Alberto Giacometti / 2018, ProLitteris, Zurich) Succession Alberto Giacometti / 2018, ProLitteris, Zürich

Paul Klee, Marionettes (colorful on black), 1930, 202 Oil on cardboard, 32 x 30,5 cm (Kunsthaus Zürich, Erna and Curt Burgauer Collection) Kunsthaus Zürich, Sammlung Erna und Curt Burgauer

Lutz & Guggisberg, Great Sky Bonnet, 2016 Styrofoam, plaster and oil, 52 x 52 x 52 cm In the possession of the artists (2018, ProLitteris, Zurich, photo: Lutz & Guggisberg) Lutz & Guggisberg

Meret Oppenheim, Sun, Moon and Stars, 1942 (B15) Oil on canvas, 48 x 51 cm Private property, Berne (2018, ProLitteris, Zurich) 2018, ProLitteris, Zürich

Werner Schaad, Metamorphosis in Space, 1930 Oil on canvas, 116 x 147 cm Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen, Depositum Kunstverein Schaffhausen (photo: Museum zu Allerheiligen Depositum Kunstverein Schaffhausen) Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen, Depositum Kunstverein Schaffhausen

Sonja Sekula, Untitled, 1943 Oil on canvas, 64 x 94 cm Museum of Art Lucerne, deposit of the BEST Art Collection (photo: Andri Stadler, Lucerne) Kunstmuseum Luzern, Depositum der BEST Art Collection

André Thomkins, Kopfei, 1973 eggshell, button, thread bobbin and thread, 26 x 16 x 16 cm Aargau Art Museum, Aarau (photo: Jörg Müller) Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau

Eva Wipf, Schrein II, around 1975 Object mounting in wooden box, 54 x 46 x 15 cm Aargau Art Museum, Aarau (photo: Jörg Müller) Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau

Jean Tinguely, Méta-Matic No. 6, 1959 Tribrach made of iron, sheet iron elements, wooden wheels, rubber belts and metal rods, all painted black, electric motor, 51 x 85 x 48 cm Museum Tinguely, Basel. A cultural commitment from Roche (2018, ProLitteris, Zurich, photo: Christian Baur, Museum Tinguely, Basel) Museum Tinguely, Basel

Max von Moos, Schlangenzauber,1930 Tempera and oil on cardboard, 81 x 54 cm private property (2018, ProLitteris, Zurich, photo: SIK-ISEA Zurich) ProLitteris, Zürich 

Walter Kurt Wiemken, Alles in Allem​​​​​​​, 1934 Oil on canvas, 160,5 x 100,5 cm Kunstmuseum Basel, gift from the artist's heirs 1943 (photo: SIK-ISEA Zurich) SIK-ISEA Zürich

Otto abbot, Komposition, 1934 Oil on canvas, 94 x 140 cm Collection Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt (photo: Art credit Basel-City) Sammlung Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt

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Is there such a thing as Swiss Surrealism? The first ever major exhibition on the theme at the Aargauer Kunsthaus – which features such greats as Oppenheim, Giacometti and Klee – suggests some answers.

Surrealism was characterised “more by an artistic attitude of mind than by a stylistic programme”, according to the Aargauer Kunsthaus. “In a time of political tensions, the Surrealist artists rejected repression and control, and directly expressed their fantasies, visions and fears,” it says in its introduction to the exhibition,External link which will open on September 1.

Various Swiss artists helped to shape international Surrealism, whether as predecessors, such as Paul Klee, or as members of the movement that started in Paris in the 1920s including Alberto Giacometti and Meret Oppenheim.

The exhibition also considers how Surrealism did not go down well in the culturally-conservative climate of Switzerland in the 1930s, as well as the movement’s influence on later art.

A special focus is given to female Swiss artists, even if not all of them would have necessarily identified as Surrealists. “Their presence in the exhibition acknowledges the fact that women were very much a part of the history of Swiss 20th-century art,” according to the Aargauer Kunsthaus.

Surrealism Switzerland runs until January 2, 2019 and features works by some 60 artists.