The Swiss painter and sculptor Wilfrid Moser has gained international recognition for a vast oeuvre consisting of paintings, painted wooden reliefs and sculptures. Moser is regarded a leading figure of abstract-figurative expressionism in post-war Swiss art and an important representative of Tachisme (or Lyrical Abstraction) of the 1940s and 1950s. Moser was born 1914 in Zurich, where he was educated and began his musical studies (violin). Encounters with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and James Ensor in the 1930s were crucial for his development as a painter. After the World War II Moser moved to Paris where he lived and worked until his death in 1997. Space and the city are important subjects of Moser's work.In Paris he became fascinated by the Metro, connecting the hectic urban life of the masses with the myths of the underworld. This book is the first comprehensive monograph on this important figure of 20th century Swiss art. Essays on his biography, his travels and the stages of his work complement the images.
Author Biography
Matthias Frehner read art history, German literature and archaeology at the University of Zurich. He was curator of the Oskar Reinhart Collection in Winterthur (Switzerland) from 1988-1996 and art editor with the Neue Zurcher Zeitung in Zurich from 1996-2002. He is director of the Museum of Art in Bern (Switzerland) since 2002.
