The oak forest as a favourite motif

Robert Zünd painted the same oak forest several times, almost identically. Owing to his meticulous style of painting, he holds a special position in Swiss landscape painting. Robert Zünd (1827–1909), Eichwald, 1859, Oil on canvas, 77,7 x 104,2 cm.

Kunstmuseum Luzern, Depositum der Stiftung BEST Art Collection Luzern, vormals Bernhard Eglin-Stiftung, Inv.-Nr. M 87x, © Kunstmuseum Luzern, Photo: Roberto Pellegrini

The Woodcutter

Ferdinand Hodler’s Holzfäller stands for strength and resilience Ferdinand Hodlers Holzfäller ist Symbol für Stärke und Widerstandskraft. This heroic conqueror of nature will himself become the biggest threat. Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918), Der Holzfäller, 1910, Oil on canvas, 129.5 x 100 cm.

Kunstsammlung der Schweizerischen Mobiliar Genossenschaft

Art from the Gran Chaco, Paraguay

The artist Osvaldo Pitoe reminds us of the meaning of the forest, which is today seriously under threat from deforestation. Osvaldo Pitoe, untitled, 2015.

Collection Artes Vivas, Verena Regehr Gerber

Forestry school

Experts in forest protection from the ETH Zurich Forestry school. Pictured: graduates and professors, 1866.

Photo: Archiv Eidg. Forschungsanstalt WSL, Bildarchiv Knuchel-ETH, 1892-1952

Gathering leaves

Leaves were used as fodder for cattle for centuries; they were also used as litter in byres and pigsties, or to fill the duvet covers of the poor. Ernest Biéler (1863–1948), Ramasseuse de feuilles mortes, undated [ca. 1909], Watercolour and pencil on paper, 47 x 57,9 cm.

Musée d’art du Valais, Sion, inv. BA 2201 ©Musées cantonaux du Valais, Sion. Michel Martinez

Forestry school

One tree after the other falls to the floor creakingly. Julian Charrière’s Ever Since We Crawled Out gets to the heart of the matter: can we still save the forests, or will soon the last tree fall?

©Julian Charrière, 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany

Idealized wilderness

The uprooted fir trees stand for the elemental and uncontrollable forces of nature. Caspar Wolf composed this primeval forest in his studio in a theatrical mis en scène. Caspar Wolf (1735–1783), Romantische Waldlandschaft mit drei Figuren, die eine Felszunge besteigen, 1769, Oil on canvas, 63 x 53,5 cm.

Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau, Depositum der Koch-Berner-Stiftung, Photo: Jörg Müller

Destruction

In 1924 a landslide destroyed part of the village of Someo in Valle Maggia. The frequent landslides in Ticino are a result of the large-scale deforestation for the wood trade during the 19th century.

Photo: Anton Krenn, 1924, ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv, Hs_1360-0173-002

Bruno and Along Sega

Bruno Manser committed himself to protecting the forests and the Penan people living there. Pictured:Along Sega, leader and speaker of the Penan people, issued a powerful warning to the world regarding the impending destruction of the rainforest in Sarawak (Malaysia).

Photo: Erik Pauser, 1999

Diary of Bruno Manser

During his stay among the Penan in Sarawak from 1984 to 1990, Bruno Manser kept a diary in which he meticulously described and depicted what he saw.

Museum der Kulturen Basel, Schenkung Erbengemeinschaft Bruno Manser 2021, Inv.-Nr. IIc 25507.08

Five past twelve?

Ugo Rondinone’s sculpture modelled on a 2,000-year old olive tree from southern Italy serves as a portent of climate change. Ugo Rondinone (*1964), wisdom? peace? blank? all of this?, 2007, cast aluminium, white lacquer.

Collection Maja Hoffmann / Luma Foundation, Photo: Enzo Velo

Arena for a Tree

Klaus Littmann, Arena für einen Baum / Arena for a Tree, Kunstintervention 2022, Zurich.

Photo: Aviaticfilms, Courtesy of the KBH.G Cultural Foundation

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

A view of the exhibition.

© Swiss National Museum

Exhibition poster

Swiss National Museum