Lill Tschudi 1911-2004
Swiss painter and linocut artist. Her interest in the linocut was brought about by seeing the work of Norbertine Bresslern-Roth and she studied with Claude Flight at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art 1920-30. She also studied in Paris with Andre Lhote, Gino Severini and Fernand Leger. Apart from the time when she was studying she has spent all her life in Switzerland although most of her prints were shown in the exhibitions arranged by Claude Flight.
Some of her prints are typical Grosvenor School subjects: Fixing the Lines (1932), Ice Hockey , Sticking up Posters (both 1933), and London Buses (1935), but others show Swiss scenes: Swiss Parliament (c1935) and the black and white Knaben mit Skis (c1935). She was captivated by sporting subjects-the physical exertions of circus performers, gymnasts and runners; themes that also preocupied Power and Andrews. Many on Tschudi’s sporting prints mak e referenrce to her Swiss homeland: among the more obvious examples are the winter sports of sledging, skiing and ski-jumping, or the cyclists competing in the Tour de Suisse race.
Tschudi matured very quickly as an artist. She was not yet twenty-one when she made Fixing the Wires in March 1932. In the two years since leaving the Grosvenor School she had made twenty-five linocuts. Flight was so impressed by her technical abilities that he reproduced Fixing the Wires in his 1934 textbook: The Art and Craft of Linocutting and Printing .... read more
Swiss painter and linocut artist. Her interest in the linocut was brought about by seeing the work of Norbertine Bresslern-Roth and she studied with Claude Flight at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art 1920-30. She also studied in Paris with Andre Lhote, Gino Severini and Fernand Leger. Apart from the time when she was studying she has spent all her life in Switzerland although most of her prints were shown in the exhibitions arranged by Claude Flight.
Some of her prints are typical Grosvenor School subjects: Fixing the Lines (1932), Ice Hockey , Sticking up Posters (both 1933), and London Buses (1935), but others show Swiss scenes: Swiss Parliament (c1935) and the black and white Knaben mit Skis (c1935). She was captivated by sporting subjects-the physical exertions of circus performers, gymnasts and runners; themes that also preocupied Power and Andrews. Many on Tschudi’s sporting prints mak e referenrce to her Swiss homeland: among the more obvious examples are the winter sports of sledging, skiing and ski-jumping, or the cyclists competing in the Tour de Suisse race.
Tschudi matured very quickly as an artist. She was not yet twenty-one when she made Fixing the Wires in March 1932. In the two years since leaving the Grosvenor School she had made twenty-five linocuts. Flight was so impressed by her technical abilities that he reproduced Fixing the Wires in his 1934 textbook: The Art and Craft of Linocutting and Printing .
Linocut has always been Tschudi’s preferred medium and represents almost her entire output during the 1930’s. Some sixty-five prints were made between 1930 and 1939, most of which were first exhibited in London.
During the 1930s Tschudi received far more attention in England than she did in her native Switzerland. However, in 1986, official recognition came from her country when she was awarded the national print prize for her lifelong acheivement in linocut.
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