Verena Loewensberg (May 28, 1912 – April 27, 1986) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

Life

Verena Loewensberg was the oldest daughter of a family of doctors in Zurich. After two years at the Kunstgewerbeschule (now: Schule für Gestaltung) 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 ...

(1927-1929), she became a textile weaver in

Speicher, Switzerland Speicher is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, in Switzerland. History Speicher is first mentioned in 1309 as ''Spicher''. The name originated in the Middle Ages, during the heyday of the Abbey of Saint Gall. At that time ...

. In 1931 she married the designer Hans Coray. The couple had two children: Stephan in 1943 and Henriette in 1946. She subsequently separated from her husband. Loewensberg had a lifelong friendship with the painter

Max Bill Max Bill (22 December 1908 – 9 December 1994) was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer. Early life and education Bill was born in Winterthur. After an apprenticeship as a silversmith ...

and his wife Binia. In 1936 she painted the first concrete pictures and helped in 1937 with the founding of an association of modern artists in Zurich. In the center were the Zürcher Konkreten. Loewensberg associated with Max Bill,

Camille Graeser Camille Graeser (1892–1980) was a Swiss painter and member of the circle of Zurich Concrete artists. He was born in Switzerland but grew up in Stuttgart, Germany where he became a furniture designer. He took part in major exhibitions by the ...

and

Richard Paul Lohse Richard Paul Lohse (September 13, 1902 – September 16, 1988) was a Swiss painter and graphic artist and one of the main representatives of the concrete and constructive art movements. Lohse was born in Zürich in 1902. His wish to study in Par ...

. She participated in their successful group exhibitions. In addition, she was inspired by the work of

Georges Vantongerloo Georges Vantongerloo (24 November 1886, Antwerp – 5 October 1965, Paris) was a Belgian abstract sculptor and painter and founding member of the De Stijl group. Life From 1905 to 1909 Vantongerloo studied Fine Art at the Fine Art Academies in A ...

and

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...

. In the 1950s and 1960s she worked for Guhl and Geigy. She also taught.

Exhibitions

*1977: Gallery Karin Fesel, Wiesbaden *1992: Retrospective. Aargau Art Gallery, Aarau *March 7 to April 25, 1999: Museum of Art-Free Art, Otterndorf (Germany) *November 23, 2006 - March 31, 2007: Infinite consequences. House Konstruktiv, Zurich *April 22 to June 12, 2009: Verena Loewensberg - Printing Graphics. Graphic collection of the ETH, Zurich *May 12 to August 5, 2012: Retrospective. Art Museum Winterthur

References

*Kathrin Siebert, Paul Tanner and Henriette Coray (Ed.): Verena Loewensberg 1912-1986. List of printing graphics. With a contribution by Bernadette Walter. Catalog. In 2009. *Elisabeth Grossmann: Verena Loewensberg. Works monograph and catalog of paintings. Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich 2012, . *Breuer, Gerda, Meer, Julia (eds.): Women in Graphic Design, Jovis, Berlin 2012, p. 505, . Content in is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:Verena Loewensberg {{DEFAULTSORT:Loewen, Verena 1912 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Swiss painters Swiss women painters 20th-century Swiss women artists