A tribute to Fritz Meijer

The exhibition: Gandria through the eyes of Fritz Meijer

A site-specific installation consisting of an open-air exhibition through the alleys of Gandria, featuring reproductions of Meijer's works, placed wherever possible to precisely correspond to the views that inspired them, with an addendum in the neighboring village of Castello Valsolda (Italy).

Born in Zurich on October 4, 1900, after studying at the Kunstgewerbeschule, he attended various academies in northern Germany starting in 1921. He studied under Walter Klemm in Weimar, won first prize in composition in Dresden with Otto Hettner and Ludwig von Hoffmann in 1923, and in 1925 studied at the Kunstakademie in Berlin.

From 1926 to 1928, he moved to Paris, where he attended the Akadémie de la Grande Chaumière.

He subsequently made numerous trips to Germany, Provence and Southern Italy, and in 1935 he decided to settle in Gandria, on Lake Lugano, purchasing a 17th-century house, where he also ran his own gallery.

The lakeside village offered the artist, a post-Impressionist plein air painter, countless opportunities over the course of more than three decades to explore its every nook and cranny, creating a poetic image, filtered through his gaze imbued with a "Nordic" sensibility, which helped to convey the image of Gandria to the wider world.

He also continued to visit the south of France regularly, producing a substantial series of Provençal landscapes, as well as still lifes and nudes.

Saturday, October 4, 2025

On the exact day of his birthday, Gandria will pay homage to the painter with a multimedia artistic afternoon.

- 2:00 PM: Creative workshop for children, organized by the Museo in Erba in Lugano – reservations required, limited places

- 4:00 PM: Gandria writer Roberto Genazzini will read a selection of excerpts from Franz Schaub's book, "Gandria Island of Silence," translated into Italian by Gideon Meijer. Meijer willalternate the reading with a piano performance of pieces by Erik Satie.

Some works by Fritz Meijer, representative of Gandria, made available for the occasion by private individuals, will also be exhibited.

Free