Gottfried Tritten

Born in 1923 on 23 December in Lenk. Youth in the mountain world of the Simmental.
1943–1948 Studies at the Basel School of Applied Arts. Graduation with drawing teacher diploma.
1948–1951 Studied art history, philosophy and psychology at the universities of Basel and Bern.
1955 Takes residence in Oberhofen on Lake Thun.
1962 Birth of his daughter Sibylle Tritten.
1969 Studio built in Grimisuat in the Valais.
1977 Moves to Grimisuat in the Valais.
1982 'Pour le mérite' award from the municipality of Grimisuat in recognition of cultural efforts.
1984 Abandonment of pedagogical obligations.
1985 Honorary doctorate from the University of Bern. Co-founder of the Biz'art society for the support of contemporary art in Valais.
1986 Culture Award of the City of Thun. 1997 Study visit to Japan.
2015 Gottfried Tritten dies on 15 January after only a two-month stay in the nursing home in Allmendingen (Thun). To the very end, he was artistically active and looking.

1950–1970 Apprenticeship as art teacher at the state teacher training college in Thun.
1958 As part of his teaching activities, he produces 'Children's creative hands', a didactic manual for the visual design and thinking of five to ten year olds (translated into French, English and Dutch).
1968 Education through Colour and Form, a didactic manual for the visual education of eleven to sixteen year olds (translated into French, English and American).
1968 Study visit (art and art education) to the USA and Canada on behalf of the Education Department of the Canton of Bern.
1968–1984 Lectureship at the Centre de Formation du Corps enseignant secondaire of the University of Bern.
1970–1972 Heavily occupied by pedagogical tasks (development and expansion, management of the 'Education artistique' department), leads to an extensive abandonment of exhibitions. Difficulty in combining artistic activity with pedagogical activity. Considering the role of the artist in society, especially in the field of education.
1977 Task of Pedagogical Commitments. Education for Colour: Painting, a didactic manual for visual education (translated into French).
1989 The book 'Painting, Education in Colour' is published in Paris.

1949 Discovery of the Provençal landscape. Meeting with Pablo Picasso in Antibes.
1951–1952 Discovery of the Valais: Landscapes and Figures. «What is Abstraction?» First solo and group exhibitions in Switzerland. First and second stay in Morocco: Man in the Landscape. New content and concepts require larger formats.
1953 Spain: strongly rhythmised landscapes. Discovery of the colour 'red'. Le Valais', portfolio with 30 multi-coloured lithographs on poems by René-Pierre Bille. Swiss Federal Scholarship for Applied Arts.
1954 Encounters with Hermann Hesse and Friedrich Dürrenmatt: portraits (drawings, lithographs and paintings); prize in portrait competition of the Kunstkredit Basel.
1955 With the change of residence to Oberhofen on Lake Thun follows the discovery of the sneeze that will later become the epitome of his mountain paintings.
1957 Third stay in Morocco: Attempt to combine elements of visible reality with those of free invention. Solo and group exhibitions in Switzerland and Germany (Frankfurt, Hanover, Bremen). Foundation of Club 57, an association for the support of contemporary art.
1958 First stay in Greece. Meeting with Odysseus Elytis.
1958–1967 Under the influence of American 'action painting', gradual transition to a free style of painting with the intention of developing his own language of signs, which is committed to both personal rhythm and visible reality and expands into free painterly invention. Attempt to translate landscape impressions into a personal world of drawing and colour. Initially limited to the colours black and white; then transition to monochrome colouring. Juxtaposition of stillness and movement; influence of the Tao.
1964–1969 Exhibitions at home and abroad (Paris, Brest, Lyon, Bordeaux). First public commissions: Tapestry (Aubusson) for the entrance hall of Thun Town Hall and mosaic for the Cantonal Bank of Thun. Glass relief 'The Germ of Life' for the Regional Hospital Herisau. In Paris he meets Tapiès.
1968 Meeting with Frank Tobey: discussion on the significance of Zen for Western art. First attempts at images with interchangeable elements.
1968 Study visit (art and art education) in the USA and Canada. Encounter with American artists of 'action paiting' and 'pop-art' such as Leslie, Dine, Warhol, Kline, Diebenkorn...
1970 Exhibitions in Switzerland, at the Museum Lisbon and 'A Group of 8 Swiss Artists' in various cities in the United States. Experiments: Images and reliefs with interchangeable elements. Improvisations and variations on the theme of the nude: 'Susanna in the Bath' and 'Hommage à René Char', two cycles of 16 and 36 pictures respectively.
1971 Founds Grimisu'art, an association for the promotion of art.
1974 Gallery exhibitions in Switzerland; general exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Thun.
1974–1986 Further picture cycles with interchangeable elements: 'Birth of Venus' (1973–1978); 'Mountain – Man – Painting' (1977–1986); 'Hands' (1981–1986).

«Throughout my life, my imagination has been ignited by the ordinary: by the landscape, by people, by the things of everyday life. The themes of my drawings and paintings remain the same throughout the years. The mountain is one of them. As a mountaineer, the first thing that fascinates me about the mountain is its appearance and its perpetual transformation. But I also see and feel in it a symbol of the human spirit, which strives ever higher and opens up ever new horizons. Finally, the mountain transforms itself in the world of the imagination and inner images into ever new signs in which the invisible, the mysterious, the magical of the mountain seeks expression. Each way of looking is a possibility, each engagement conjures up other possibilities and leads to ever new pictorial expression.»

1975 Three objects 'Y' in sheet iron, wood, Plexiglas with neon light; installation secondary school Steffisburg in collaboration with the sculptor Fritz Gottardi and the architect Peter Schenk.
1985 'Ondinen': Mirror relief, Bernische Kraftwerke Ostermundigen. Portfolio with 4 serigraphs on the theme 'Hand'. Cycle 'Hands', Community Centre, Heimberg and Gravelone Hospital, Sion.
1985 Co-founder of the society Biz'art for the support of contemporary art in Valais.
1986 Retrospective at the Thun Art Museum.
1986–1991 Galerie-Ausstellungen: W. von Gunten, Thun; Carzinaga and Uecker, Basel; "H", Margrit Haldemann, Bern; Esther Münger, Burgdorf; Patrick Roy, Lausanne; Post Scriptum, Belfaux; Toda Bechstein, Burgdorf.
1987 Retrospective at the Cantonal Art Museum in Sion. Basel and Barcelona art fairs.
1988 Mirror relief in the regional hospital of Thun.
1989 Project 'Lux' in the administration building of the Sion power station: installation with coloured mirrors and neon light. Exhibition 'Swiss Glass Painting'; exhibitions in the gallery 'H', Bern and in the gallery Schützenlaube, Visp.
1990 Glass painting in the chapel of the Sainte Claire Clinic in Sierre.
1991 GSMBA/VS: Group exhibition at the Cultural Centre Prague.
1988–1993 Cycles on the theme of 'Rest and Movement' and 'An Ištar' in the colours black and blue.
1992-1993 Retrospective (1978-92) at the Helsinki Art Museum (catalogue of works).
1994 Retrospective (1978-94) at the Museum Manoir and the Fondation Moret of Martigny (catalogue). Exhibition with the sculptor André Raboud at the Wilfried von Gunten Gallery, Thun/BE.
1995 Installation in the regional hospital in Sitten/VS: glass pictures, mirror images, writing and painting.
1995-1997 The focus of the work is the colour RED: investigations, studies and paintings.
1997 Glass painting 'Signs of Love', gift of the artist to the sick of the Regional Hospital of Sion. Glass painting 'Sainte Claire d'Assise' in the Clinique Sainte Claire in Sierre/VS. Study visit to Japan. Donations to the Cantonal Art Museum in Sion. Cultural Award of the State of Valais for 1997.
1998 Exhibition in the framework of 'La Peinture Suisse', Fribourg
1999/2000 Exhibitions at the Galerie Suisse, Strasbourg and the Gallery Esther Münger, Burgdorf.
2003 Exhibition at the gallery 'Alte Öle', Wilfried von Gunten, Thun.
2003 Exhibition at the Fondation Moret, Martigny.
2005 Exhibition at the Congress Centre, Visp.
2005 Exhibition at the Congress Centre, Visp.
2003 Exhibition at the Fondation Moret, Martigny.
2004 Gallery exhibition Gallery Kongresszentrum, Visp.
2005–2010 Continued work on the cycles and collaboration with the glass artist Michel Eltschinger.
2010 Inauguration of the glass paintings for the windows of the Protestant Reformed Church on Lenk.
2011 Retrospective (1998-2011) at the Cloître de St. Ursanne.
2011–2015 Despite the artist's progressive dementia, he maintains his daily routine (working in the studio from early in the morning until midday, and in the afternoons dealing with philosophy, art and current affairs) without interruption and is very productive artistically.

After Gottfried Tritten's death in 2015, his artistic estate was divided between his two daughters. The part that went to Sibylle Tritten is now curated by Gallery Artiz.

His legacy will be presented to the public in various exhibitions.

Anyone interested in the work can contact the Artiz Gallery at any time to arrange a viewing.

In addition to the artist's works, the gallery also houses part of the collection he acquired through contact with other artists.

Most of the works can also be purchased. Please get in touch with us.

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