Albert Welti – Swiss Symbolist
Albert Welti's work is in the collections of major Swiss museums and the subject of several books and was recently featured in the exhibit "1900, Symbolism and Art Nouveau in Swiss Painting" in the city of Sion.
After studying photography in Lausanne, Albert Welti traveled to Munich to study at the Munich Academy of Art. Following a stay in Venice, he became a student of one of Switzerland's most original 19th Century artists, Arnold Boecklin. Boecklin, master of a magical world of nymphs and satyrs, had a profound influence on Welti. Latter Welti studied the art of engraving with Peter Halm, the Bernese artist. The last years of his life were dedicated to painting the Salle du Conseil des Etats (Ständeratssaals) in the Swiss Parliament in Berne.
Welti was a very close friend of Hermann Hesse, author of Siddartha and Steppenwolf. Their friendship dated to their time together in Munich. Following Welti's death in 1921, Hesse and his family moved into the Welti's house in Bern, Switzerland and it was there that Hesse wrote many of his later works.
Hermann Hesse wrote of Welti:
"Die beiden Quellen seiner Meisterschaft waren eine starke, eigenwillige, aus tiefen Seelengründen genährte Phantasie und ein altmeisterlicher Formwille."
Loose translation: "The two sources of his mastery were a strong, independent fantasy nurtured from the depths of his soul and a sense of shape akin to that of the old masters. "
