Jakob Tuggener
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jakob Tuggener (7 February 1904, Zurich – 29 April 1988) was a Swiss photographer, filmmaker and painter.


Early life, education and training

Son of Jacob Arnold, lithographer, and Anna Barbara Sennhauser, Jakob Tuggener took his first photographs in 1926 and taught himself the medium. He was apprenticed as a technical draftsman at Maag Zahnräder AG
Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, Switzerland before studying in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
1930–1931 at the
Reimann School The Reimann School of Art and Design was a private art school which was founded in Berlin in 1902 by Albert Reimann, and re-established in Regency Street, Pimlico, London in January 1937 after persecution by the Nazis. It was the first commerci ...
, then the largest private arts and crafts school in Germany, in graphics, typography, drawing, shop window design and film. His works were published in the college magazine ''Farbe und Form'' (Colour and Form).


Two themes

After returning to Switzerland, Tuggener worked as an industrial photographer for the
Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon was a Swiss engineering company based in the Zürich district of Oerlikon (Zürich), Oerlikon known for the early development of electric locomotives. It was founded in 1876 as the ''Werkzeug- und Maschinen-Fabrik Oer ...
, and his work was published regularly in the in-house magazine ''Der Gleichrichter''. In 1932 he established his own business and in 1934, he produced his first commissioned book, ''MFO'', a portrait of the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon, and afterwards bought a
Leica Leica may refer to: Companies * Ernst Leitz GmbH, later divided into: ** Leica Biosystems GmbH, a cancer diagnostics company ** Leica Camera AG, a German camera and optics manufacturer ** Leica Geosystems AG, a Swiss manufacturer of surveying and ...
camera and photographed for the first time at the Grand Ball in Zurich. After experiencing the glories of night-life at the then famous balls held by the Reimann School at which he trained in photography, these extravagant society events obsessed and enchanted Tuggener, with their “alabaster light” illuminating a “fairy tale of women and flowing silk” and they were a subject to which he returned to document for two decades; over the 30s to the 50s he photographed the soirées in hotels like the Palace in
St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...
, the
Baur au Lac Baur au Lac is a luxury hotel at Talstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland. The hotel was founded in 1844 by Johannes Baur, and is still owned by the Baur family. It was completely renovated between 2008 and 2010. It is a member of the Leading Hotels of ...
and the Dolder Grand Hotel & Curhaus and the
Vienna Opera Ball The Vienna Opera Ball (German: ''Wiener Opernball'') is an annual Austrian society event which takes place in the building of the Vienna State Opera in Vienna, Austria on the Thursday preceding Ash Wednesday (a religious holiday). Together with t ...
. In addition, he devoted himself to topics such as country life and technology and in 1937 was engaged in filmmaking; and from 1937 to 1970, in addition to commissioned films for industry, he produced many self-financed films, initially in collaboration with Max Wydler. From 1939 to 1944 he undertook military service in the Swiss canton
Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most nort ...
and the Bernese Seeland and was a guard in an internment camp for Polish soldiers and officers, with whom he formed friendships. In 1940 he married Marie Gassler.


''Fabrik''

In 1943, Tuggener's book ''Fabrik: Ein Bildepos der Technik'', a photographic essay on the relationship between man and industry, though not a commercial success, represented, in its filmic sequencing and absence of text (like one of his own silent films), an avant-garde breakthrough in Swiss photography. In 1950 he married his second wife, Margrit Aschwanden, a photographer and daughter of Michael Aschwanden.


Recognition

In 1949, the new editor of ''
Camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
'' magazine, Walter Laubli (1902–1991), published a substantial portfolio of Jakob Tuggener's pictures made at upper-class entertainments and in factories, a world familiar to him from his early apprenticeship as a technical draftsman in Zurich, as well as a series of stills from his silent films, with an introduction by Hans Kasser (1907–1978), himself a photographer and member of the Werkbund. Alongside Tuggener’s work, ''Camera'' presented the 25-year-old
Robert Frank Robert Frank (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) was a Swiss American photographer and documentary filmmaker. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled ''The Americans'', earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his ...
, who had just returned to his native Switzerland  after two years abroad, with pages including some of his first pictures from New York. The magazine promoted the two as representatives of the ‘new photography’ of Switzerland. Tuggener was a role model for Frank, first mentioned to him by his boss and mentor, Zurich commercial photographer Michael Wolgensinger (1913–1990). Tuggener, as a serious artist who had left the commercial world behind, was the “one Frank really did love, from among all Swiss photographers,” according to Guido Magnaguagno and ''Fabrik'', as a photo book, was a model for Frank’s '' Les Américains'' published in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
by Delpire in 1958. In 1951 Tuggener founded the Kollegium Schweizerischer Photographen (Academy of Swiss Photographers) with
Werner Bischof Werner Bischof (26 April 1916 – 16 May 1954) was a Swiss photographer and photojournalist. He became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1949, the first new photographer to join its original founders. Bischof's book ''Japan'' (1954) was awarded t ...
, Walter Läubli, Gotthard Schuh and Paul Senn. In 1953 he was included in ''Postwar European Photography'' at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York; then in 1955 two of his photographs, one from each of his two main themes, dance and work (''Riveters at the Rheiner Hafen in Basel'', from ''Schwarzes Eisen'' and / or ''Die Maschinenzeit'', 1947) were selected by
Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (; March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator and a pioneer of fashion photography. His gown images for the magazine ''Art et Décoration'' in 1911 were the first modern ...
to be shown in the world-touring MoMA exhibition ''
The Family of Man ''The Family of Man'' was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) department of photography. According to Steichen, the exhibitio ...
'' seen by 9 million visitors, and he was published, inter alia, in the magazine of Leica photography, ''Du''. He was awarded a Gold Medal at the 1st International Photo Biennale, 1957. Tuggener was shown once again at MoMA in ''Photographs from the Museum Collection'' of 1958. The first big complete exhibition, ''Feine Feste'', of his 'Ballnächte' pictures took place in 1969 in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. His camera was his entrée to this privileged universe, otherwise denied to a man of his middle-class origins who lived like a hermit. In 1971 Tuggener married his third wife Maria Euphemia Baumgartner, a remedial teacher.


Legacy

At 80, Tuggener received the “Award for Cultural Merit” from the city of Zurich in 1983. He died in 1988, aged 84 and leaving an immense catalogue of a life's work, much of which has yet to be shown: more than 60 book maquettes, thousands of photographs, drawings, watercolors, oil paintings and silent film. His photographic archive is in the in the photography centre in
Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...
.


Select exhibitions

* 2017-18 Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur/Schweiz: ''Maschinenzeit''. * 2006 Museum Hermesvilla, Vienna: ''Ballnächte''. * 2004–2005 ''Jakob Tuggener: Ballnächte'' Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur, Switzerland (solo) * 1994 ''Industriebild'' Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland * 1981–1982 ''Tuggeners Bücher'' Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland (solo) * 1980 ''Jakob Tuggener/August Sander'' Work Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland * 1978 ''Jakob Tuggener. Photographien'' Stadthaus Uster, Switzerland (solo) * 1974 ''Jakob Tuggener. Fotografien 1930 bis heute'' Helmhaus Zurich and the Museum der Stadt Solothurn, Switzerland (solo) * 1969–1970 ''Feine Feste'' Die Neue Sammlung, Staatliches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Munich, Germany (solo) * 1958 ''Photographs from the Museum Collection'' Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA * 1955 ''The Family of Man'' Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA * 1953 ''Postwar European Photography'' Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA * 1951 ''Kollegium Schweizerischer Photographen'' Helmhaus Zürich, Switzerland


Publications

*''Fotografien''. Kunsthaus Zürich. Jakob-Tuggener-Stiftung, 2000. *''Ballnächte/Ballnights 1934–1950''. Scalo Verlag, 2005. *''Fabrik''. Reprint of the original from 1943. Steidl, 2012. * ''Zürcher Oberland'', Verlag Buchdruckerei Wetzikon und Rüti, Wetzikon.


Films

* 1937 ''Flugmeeting'' (Dübendorf) * 1937-1940 ''Zürich Stadt und Land'' * 1938 ''Abbruch der Tonhalle'' * 1938-1970 ''Die Maschinenzeit'' * 1942 ''Rosmarie'' * 1943 ''Die Schiffmaschine'' * 1943 ''Wir fordern'' * 1944 ''Die Seemühle'' * 1946 ''Der Weg aus Eden'' * 1947 ''Dazio Grande'' * 1948 ''Uerikon-Bauma Bahn'' * 1952 ''Die Strassenbahnen im Kt. Zug'' * 1953 ''Hyronimus'' * 1954 ''Illusion'' * 1957 ''Die Muse'' * 1959 ''Das Grab des Kelten'' * 1960 ''Palace Hotel, St. Moritz'' * 1961 ''Dornröschen'' * 1960-1962 ''Wien, nur Du allein'' * 1962 ''Mortimer'' * 1963 ''Die Versuchung des hl. Antonius'' * 1963 ''Die Holzfäller'' * 1967 ''Ciel naïf'' * 1970 ''Robert Niederer, der Glasbläser''.


References


External links


Jakob Tuggener
im Metakatalog der Schweizer Hochschulbibliotheken und der Schweizerischen Nationalbibliothek Swissbib
Jakob Tuggener at Fotostiftung Schweiz


*
Jakob Tuggener, Ballnächte
Exhibition 2004 at Fotostiftung Schweiz.
Jakob Tuggener, Maschinenzeit
Exhibition 2017 at Fotostiftung Schweiz. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuggener, Jakob Swiss photographers Industrial photographers Dance photographers Swiss painters 1904 births 1988 deaths Swiss filmmakers