Erika Billeter (also known as Erika Gysling-Billeter,

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Erika Schulze; November 8, 1927 – August 12, 2011), was a German-born Swiss

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

, writer, and museum director. She was a prolific author and specialized in writing and editing art exhibition catalogues (in German and English languages). She was also known for her interests in

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

art history.

Biography

Erika Billeter was born in 1927 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. She attended the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

to study art history, followed by study at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

where she graduated with a PhD in 1960. She had emigrated to Switzerland in 1962, after marrying scholar . Her second marriage was to journalist . She served as a curator at the Kunstgewerbemuseum der Stadt Zürich (later known as the

Museum of Design, Zürich The Museum of Design, Zürich (German: ''Museum für Gestaltung Zürich'') is a museum for industrial design, visual communication, architecture, and craft in Zurich, Switzerland. Overview The museum is part of the Department of Cultural An ...

) from 1962 until 1968; curator at the Museum Bellerive in Zürich from 1968 to 1974; and deputy director of

Kunsthaus Zürich The Kunsthaus Zürich is in terms of area the biggest art museum of Switzerland and houses one of the most important art collections in Switzerland, assembled over the years by the local art association called '. The collection spans from the Medi ...

from 1975 to 1981; then director at the

Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts The Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts (french: Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, MCBA) is an art museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. Collection The museum was created by private initiative in 1841, with funds provided by the artist Marc-Louis Arlaud, who ...

(Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts) from 1981 to 1991. While working at the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts, Billeter focused on the display of both regional and international artists including works by

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...

, Martin Disler,

Christo Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific art, site-specific environmental art, environmental art i ...

Leiko Ikemura is a Japanese-Swiss painter and sculptor. Biography Leiko Ikemura studied at Osaka University from 1970–1972. She then left Japan to study in Spain from 1973 to 1978 at the Academia de Bellas Artes in Granada and Seville. In 1979, Ikemura ...

Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various ar ...

Eric Fischl Eric Fischl (born March 9, 1948) is an American painter, sculptor, printmaker, draughtsman and educator. He is known for his paintings depicting American suburbia from the 1970s and 1980s. Life Fischl was born in New York City and grew up on su ...

, Rolf Iseli, among others. In 2000, Billeter was awarded the Bern State Prize, for her work in the service of culture.

Publications

Billeter published more than 1,000 works, below is a list of her select works.

Author

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Editor

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billeter, Erika 1927 births 2011 deaths Women art historians German emigrants to Switzerland 20th-century German historians German curators Swiss curators University of Cologne alumni University of Basel alumni Writers from Cologne German women curators

Biography

Publications

Author

Editor

See also

References