Markus Raetz (6 June 1941 – 14 April 2020) was a Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator.

Life and work

Born in Bern and raised in

Büren an der Aare Büren an der Aare (usually abbreviated with Büren a.A., means ''Büren on the Aare'') is a historic town and a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Büren an der Aare is first men ...

near Bern, Raetz obtained a teacher's education and taught primary school until 1963, when he embarked on an artist's career with stays in Bern, Amsterdam, Carona (Swiss canton of

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

) and Berlin. He married Monika Müller in 1970, and had a daughter with her, Aimée. Beginning in the 1960s, Raetz created numerous works, including more than 30,000 drawings. Raetz lived and worked in the village of Carona (Ticino / Italian part of Switzerland) together with many other artists who lived and worked there at the same time, such as Peter Schweri. His work focused on drawings and paintings in the 1960s and 1970s, and continued with sculptures in the 1980s and 1990s, beginning with the sculpture ''Der Kopf'' in the Merian Park in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

(1984). The principal topic of his work is the nature of

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system, ...

. His works do not focus on what they portray, but on how they are perceived. They often require interaction by the viewer, and can be understood only when viewed in motion or from different angles. Raetz exhibited works at numerous international exhibitions, including at

documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...

4, 5 and 7. Works by him are held by public collections including 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. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

in New York, the

Schaulager The Schaulager is a museum in Newmünchenstein, a sub-district of Münchenstein in the canton of Basel-Country, Switzerland. Built in 2002/2003 under commission of the Laurenz Foundation, it was designed by the renowned architectural office of ...

in Basel, the

Museum für Moderne Kunst The Museum für Moderne Kunst (''Museum of Modern Art''), or short MMK, in Frankfurt, was founded in 1981 and opened to the public 6 June 1991. The museum was designed by the Viennese architect Hans Hollein. Because of its triangular shape, it ...

in Frankfurt, the

Kunstmuseum Basel The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a heritage site of national significance. Its lineage extends back to ...

and the

Kunstmuseum Bern The Museum of Fine Arts Bern (German: ''Kunstmuseum Bern''), established in 1879 in Bern, is the museum of fine arts of the de facto capital of Switzerland. Its holdings run from the Middle Ages to the present. It houses works by Paul Klee, Pa ...

. He was awarded, among other recognitions, the

Prix Meret Oppenheim The Swiss Art Awards, also named the Federal Art Competition, are recognitions that are awarded by the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) in the name of the Confederation. History The Swiss Art Awards stem from the oldest and most important measur ...

in 2006 and the Gerhard-Altenbourg-Preis in 2004. He was represented by the gallery Farideh Cadot Associés since 1981. Raetz died on 14 April 2020 at the age of 78.

Life and work

Bibliography

References

Further reading