1943 Born in Chur, Switzerland
1964 - 1966 Attended Schule fuer Gestaltung, Zurich (formerly Kunstgewerbeschule)
1975 GSMBA Gesellschaft Schweiz. Maler, Bildhauer und Architekten, Zurich (Swiss Society of Painters, Sculptors and Architects)
1980 - 88 Printmaker at the Kupferdruck-Atelier Peter Kneubuehler, Zurich
1981 In Lexikon der zeitgenössischen Schweizer Kunst, SIK Zurich
1982 Commission from STEO-Stiftung Zurich
1991 In Kuenstlerverzeichnes der Schweiz 1980-1990, SIK Zurich
1992 Commissions from Ernst Göhner-Stiftung, Cassinelli-Vogel-Stiftung, and Zurich Cantonal Bank
1993 Commissions from STEO Stiftung, Hirslanden Group and Cantrade Private Bank AG, Zurich
1994 4th Place in Competition: Murals; Hewlett-Packard (Schweiz) AG
1998 Commissions from G.and.J. Bloch-Stiftung, Zurich and Ernst Göhner-Stiftung, Zug
In Biografisches Lexikon der Schweizer Kunst, SIK, NZZ Verlag Zurich

Windows as Eyes to the Soul
New Works from Walter Ehrismann at the Gallery Wagner

It is not a rarity to hear eyes and windows considered in parallel. Before the people north of the Alps took over the Roman style of building and followed their example of leaving openings for air and light, called fenestra, they already had the symbolic idea of the augatora. (The eyes are the windows of the soul.) It also reminds one of Gottfried Keller. One of his poems begins with "Eyes, my lovely little windows," And the painter, Walter Ehrismann, born in 1943, now living in Urdorf, grasps this in his new works, which are currently showing at the Gallery Wagner in Wallisellen, works that explore windows in depth. In his oeuvre since 1997, paintings with this title take an important place. As a rule, they are exact squares and cut into four or nine smaller segments, so that it structures the whole layout. This gives him the 'cause', the relationship of the part to the whole. Questions of this type have busied him for a long time. "Paesaggio" (1988) divides a square paper into five small strips. After each interruption, the eye sets readily to a new beginning. The colour zones find their continuation in the next area, but even this interruption, the separation and relocating, stimulates seeing: mainly because the parts also meet in other relationships, their range changes and the elements that are required manage to create another structure. The painter follows the finest traces in his work, traces that are especially clear in the prints entitled "Tondo" where his theme is movement and change and he pursues them on their way through space in order to remain near them.

The producers of this exhibition are Corinne and Herman Wagner, who took over the Galerie Noëlle Zumofen on 1 April. The art researcher Corinne Wagner accompanies her first exhibition with an illustrated text.
Text by Paul Weder (Neue Zürcher Zeitung 3 May 1999)

1979-1992 Arbeiten fürs Spektrum (Spectrum), Vierteljahresschrift für Dichtung und Originalgraphik, Zurich (Various works appeared in the Quarterly Journal for Poetry and Graphics)
1980 I dolori d'Angelo, Radierungen, Skizzen und Texte zum lyrischen Werk von Angelo Casè; in Leinenkassette; Vorwort Alice Vollenweider; (Prints, sketches and text to the poetry of Angelo Casè, in linen slipcase, Introduction by Alice Vollenweider) Edition Howeg, Zurich; out of print
1982 Il Mantis, Zeichnungen zur Erzählung von Angelo Casè; (Drawings to stories by Angelo Casè); Edition Die Südschweiz, Locarno; out of print
1982 Werkdokumentation (Catalogue of Work from 1972-1982), Honours: Cantonal Government Zurich, Edition Howeg, Zurich; out of print
1983 Die Sirene (The Siren), Vernis mou/Aquatinta zur Erzählung von Lampedusa; handgesetzter Text; in Leinenkassette mit Blindprägung (Vernis mou/aquatints to the story by Lampadusa, in linen slipcase with relief printing); 35 copies; Edition Die Handpresse, Zurich
1988 Bei Durchsicht der Dinge (Transparency of Things), Wasserzeichen, Vernis mou und Text in Acrylkassette (Prints using watermarks, vernis mou and text, in acrylic slipcase); 45 copies; Edition Howeg, Zurich
1993 "Art as a Form of Life Mastery", Speech to the UNESCO-Congress, Basel; published in German in the Handbuch zur UNESCO-Tagung
1993 Walter Ehrismann - eine Monographie (Monograph), Ausgewählte Werke 1968-1993; Text von Sabine Weder und Conradin Wolf; (Selected Works from 1968 -1993; Text by Sabine Weder and Conradin Wolf, in German); 999 copies
Special edition with linen slipcase, relief printing, and inset colour plates, Offizin Verlag, Zurich
1997 Lover's Eternally Nearing, Pansy Maurer-Alvarez, Text English and German; 15 Brush and ink drawings by Walter Ehrismann, each page reworked by hand, 50 copies; Edition Howeg, Zurich
1999 Fenster. Durch Sicht / Window: Through View, Catalogue, Text: Corinne Wagner, German/English, Edition: 400 copies, Edition Howeg, Zurich
1999 Die Italienische (The Italian), Portfolio, linen-covered Four Carborundum prints and four photogravure/aquatints Titlepage included Edition: 24 copies numbered and signed

1972 Galerie Otto Gilli (first solo exhibition), Lucerne
1981, 83 Galerie Hufschmid, Zurich
1986, 89 Galerie Edition Howeg, Zurich
1992 Galerie Hufschmid (with Gregor Rabinovitch), Zurich
1993 Galerie Hufschmid, Book Vernissage, Zurich
1994 Galerie Studio 10, Chur
1997 Galerie Marlène Hegetschweiler, Ottenbach
1991, 94, 98 Galerie Jeannette Catrine, Oetwil am See
1999 Galerie Wagner, Wallisellen

1976 Zeichnung, Kunsthaus Zurich
1977 Figur-Monument-Zeichen, Kunsthaus Zurich
1980 Edition Howeg, Goethe-Institut, Paris
1982 Hommage, Kunsthaus Zurich
1982 Spektrum, Galerie Studio 10, Chur
1983 Buendner Kuenstler, Buendner Kunstmuseum, Chur
1983 Radierung, Galerie Hufschmid, Zurich
1984 Buendner Kuenstler, Buendner Kunstmuseum, Chur
1984 Spektrum, Kunsthaus Zurich
1985 Buendner Kuenstler Buendner Kunstmuseum, Chur
1985 Radierung, Galerie Hufschmid, Zurich
1985 Radierung, Glarner Kunstmuseum
1986 Buendner Kuenstler, Buendner Kunstmuseum, Chur
1986 Druckgraphik, Kunsthaus Zurich
1990 Graphik live, Grafische Sammlung Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
1991 12. Internationale Triennale für Druckgraphik, Kunstgesellschaft, Grenchen
1994 Jubiläumausstellung, Galerie Hufschmid, Zurich
1995 Jubiläumausstellung, Galerie Studio 10, Chur
1997 Biennale für Druckgraphik, Südwest Landesbank, Stuttgart, Germany
1999 Jubiläumsausstellung, 25 Jahre Galerie Esther Hufschmid, Zurich

City and State of Zurich
Communities and School Districts of the State of Zurich
Swiss National Library, Bern and Zentralbibliothek (Main Library), Zurich
State Library, Graubuenden, Chur
Libraries in Leipzig und Frankfurt, Germany
Kunsthaus, Zurich and Museo Cantonale del Ticino, Lugano
UBS, Zurich (Head Office, Paris office and various branches)
Credit Suisse, Zurich
Zurich Cantonal Bank, Zurich
Bank Prokredit AG, Zurich and DG Bank (Schweiz) AG, Zurich
Cantrade Private Bank AG, Zurich
Bank J. Vontobel & Co. AG, Zurich
Hirslanden Group, Zurich
Migros Genossenschafts-Bund, Zurich
Private and Public Foundations, Private Collectors

homepage of Walter Ehrismann

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