HAUSWIRTH, JOHANN-JAKOB: Dorfidylle. Lot n° 8

HAUSWIRTH, JOHANN-JAKOB (Saanen 1809 - 1871 L'Etivaz) : Dorfidylle; silhouette and collage; 21,5x32,5 cm (LM) support minimally browned and with wormholes and retouched in places. Johann-Jakob Hauswirth is one of the most important representatives of the popular silhouette, a popular form of handicraft in the 19th century. Few details are known about Hauswirth's life. Born in Saanen, he spent his life in the border region between the Bernese Oberland and the Pays d'Enhaut in Vaud, where he worked as a day laborer on farms and as a lumberjack and charcoal burner. The last third of his life he spent eremite in a self-made hut in the wild gorge of Etivaz. His hulking appearance and his peculiar pass gait made him a legendary figure even during his lifetime. The self-taught artist created his first silhouettes in his late thirties. Hauswirth's hands resembled paws, so that he felt compelled to supplement his scissors with additional wire rings in order to be able to wield them at all. All the more surprising is the filigree quality of his work, which developed from black and white folding cuts to colorful folding and glue cuts. The earliest known color composition dates from 1847. Beginning in the 1850s, Hauswirth moved from farm to farm, trying to sell his silhouettes - usually for a small wage or in exchange for food. Thematically, his compositions were dedicated to everyday farm life as well as to alpine journeys and village festivals. In his last creative years, lush flower arrangements joined the main subjects. The smaller, unframed silhouettes with depictions of riders, couples or flower bouquets were sought after by the peasants as bookmarks or house Bible stamps. For larger compositions, the Bernese artist developed his own collage technique by layering several layers of silhouettes on top of each other, using discarded colored waste paper. His elaborately and richly detailed composed Alpfahrten follow a recurring pictorial structure with a farmhouse placed at the bottom of the picture, from which the procession of cattle and people moves up to an alpine hut often equipped with utensils for cheese making. Hauswirth's silhouettes are almost always signed and dated and often show, in addition or as a signature variant, the Bernese Mutz on a coat of arms. Unaware of his own artistic significance, Hauswirth died lonely and unrecognized. His later discovery was ensured by the painter, draftsman, pedagogue and ethnologist Théodore Delachaux, who spent some time in the Pays d'Enhaut at the beginning of the 20th century. He and his brother Constant Delachaux, a doctor and co-founder of the spa hotel in Château-d'Oex built in 1907, were the first to systematically acquire Hauswirth's silhouettes from local owners and assemble them in their own collection.