Lenz Klotz: Printing Techniques and Monotypes

About the Artist

Lenz Klots, Switzerland, 1925 Immediately after the Second World War, Lenz Klotz left the mountain region of Graubünden for Basel, the cultural and artistic center of Switzerland. While employed at the Basel Natural History Museum as both a student and exhibition organizer, he pursued studies in drawing and painting at the Basel School of Fine Arts. He soon aligned himself with a new generation of avant-garde artists dedicated to Tachism, a pure non-objective art. The group’s innovative approaches attracted considerable critical attention, leading to international exhibitions in the 1960s in São Paulo, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, Tel Aviv, and other cities. These activities marked the beginning of Klotz’s lasting connections within the Swiss art world. Klotz maintained long-standing professional relationships with figures such as Ernst Beyeler (Beyeler Foundation, Riehen), Trudl Bruckner (co-founder of Art Basel), Eduard Kornfeld (Galerie Kornfeld, Bern). As professor at the Basel School of Fine Arts, he instructed several generations of students, and for over two decades he served on the Basel Public Art Commission. His artistic development reflects a continuous process of transformation. Early experiences at the Basel Natural History Museum introduced ethnographic perspectives into his work. In the 1970s, he produced paintings inspired by Polynesian navigation charts. During the 1980s, his compositions employed bold color and pointed yet supple forms recalling African Magalan sculpture. The 1990s were characterized by the Black Signs series, in which hieroglyphic-like characters predominated. Within an international context, Klotz’s practice intersected with that of Antoni Tàpies (Spain), Mark Tobey (USA), Jasper Johns (USA), and A. R. Penck (Germany). In 1995, the Kunstmuseum Basel, for the first time in its history, dedicated a solo exhibition to a living artist: Lenz Klotz. This presentation, held in parallel with the Kunsthalle Basel, consolidated his position within Swiss art. Subsequently referred to as the “Master of the Line,” his works entered major collections and institutions. Later paintings, particularly the large-format string pictures, demonstrated his integration of painting, drawing, monotype, and appliqué. Klotz’s oeuvre concluded in 2005 with the works It is finished and At last. In the final twelve years of his life, he systematically organized and archived his production. This effort resulted in a corpus of approximately 3,000 works across painting, sculpture, and printmaking. Today, the Klotz Archive is regarded as one of the most comprehensive and systematically maintained artist archives in Switzerland. During his lifetime, Klotz was recognized by museums and acknowledged as an important contemporary artist. He is now firmly situated as a representative figure of classical modernism, and his artistic legacy constitutes a significant cultural asset. Organized by: Galerie Eulenspiegel, Basel Co-curated with: Lenz Klotz Art Collection, Switzerland