Skip to main content

Louis Soutter

Biography

Louis Soutter was born in Morges (Switzerland) in 1871. After beginning to study engineering and music, Soutter devoted himself to studying painting and drawing in Switzerland and Paris from 1894. In 1887 he emigrated with his wife to Colorado Springs (USA), where he became head of the art department at the Art College. After their divorce in 1904, health problems and a mental crisis caused him to return to Switzerland. His condition deteriorated to such an extent that in 1923 his family committed him to an old people's home in Ballaigues, Vaud, where he lived until his death in 1942, creating his artistic work, which is now internationally recognized. Louis Soutter, whose works can be seen at the Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris, the Kunstmuseum Basel and the Museum im Lagerhaus St. Gallen, among others, is an important representative of Art Brut.

Exhibitions (Selection)

1936 Wadsworth Atheneum Hartford, USA   |   1937 Galerie Vallotton, Lausanne   |   1939 Weyhe Gallery, New York   |   1961 Louis Soutter: Témoignages de René Auberjonois et de Le Corbusier, Musée Cantonnal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne   |   1974 Louis Soutter, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne   |   1975 Kunsthalle Basel / Kulturhaus Graz   |   1976 Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris / Kunstmuseum Winterthur   |   1985 Louis Soutter (1871-1942). Drawings, Books, Finger Paintings, Städtische Galerie im Lembachhaus, Munich / Kunstmuseum Bonn / Würtembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart   |   1990 Louis Soutter, Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda   |   1998 Louis Soutter. Finger Paintings 1937-42, Karsten Greve Gallery, Cologne   |   2003 Louis Soutter et les modernes, Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel / Louis Soutter et la musique, Collection de l'art brut, Lausanne   |   2012 Louis Soutter: Drawings, Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris / Louis Soutter: Le tremblement de la modernité, La Maison Rouge / Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris / Les primitifs sont petits: Cahiers de Louis Soutter 1923-1930, Musée Fenaille, Rodez   |   2020 Louis Soutter: Un présage, Karsten Greve Gallery, Paris   |   2021 Works by Christiane Löhr & Louis Soutter, Dierking, Zürich   |   2022 – 2023 Group show Brut favorites.! Feilacher‘s choice, Museum Gugging, Klosterneuburg.

Louis Soutter

Biography

Louis Soutter was born in Morges (Switzerland) in 1871. After beginning to study engineering and music, Soutter devoted himself to studying painting and drawing in Switzerland and Paris from 1894. In 1887 he emigrated with his wife to Colorado Springs (USA), where he became head of the art department at the Art College. After their divorce in 1904, health problems and a mental crisis caused him to return to Switzerland. His condition deteriorated to such an extent that in 1923 his family committed him to an old people's home in Ballaigues, Vaud, where he lived until his death in 1942, creating his artistic work, which is now internationally recognized. Louis Soutter, whose works can be seen at the Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris, the Kunstmuseum Basel and the Museum im Lagerhaus St. Gallen, among others, is an important representative of Art Brut.

Exhibitions (Selection)

1936 Wadsworth Atheneum Hartford, USA   |   1937 Galerie Vallotton, Lausanne   |   1939 Weyhe Gallery, New York   |   1961 Louis Soutter: Témoignages de René Auberjonois et de Le Corbusier, Musée Cantonnal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne   |   1974 Louis Soutter, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne   |   1975 Kunsthalle Basel / Kulturhaus Graz   |   1976 Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris / Kunstmuseum Winterthur   |   1985 Louis Soutter (1871-1942). Drawings, Books, Finger Paintings, Städtische Galerie im Lembachhaus, Munich / Kunstmuseum Bonn / Würtembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart   |   1990 Louis Soutter, Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda   |   1998 Louis Soutter. Finger Paintings 1937-42, Karsten Greve Gallery, Cologne   |   2003 Louis Soutter et les modernes, Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel / Louis Soutter et la musique, Collection de l'art brut, Lausanne   |   2012 Louis Soutter: Drawings, Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris / Louis Soutter: Le tremblement de la modernité, La Maison Rouge / Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris / Les primitifs sont petits: Cahiers de Louis Soutter 1923-1930, Musée Fenaille, Rodez   |   2020 Louis Soutter: Un présage, Karsten Greve Gallery, Paris   |   2021 Works by Christiane Löhr & Louis Soutter, Dierking, Zürich   |   2022 – 2023 Group show Brut favorites.! Feilacher‘s choice, Museum Gugging, Klosterneuburg.

1

DIERKING
GALERIE AM PARADEPLATZ
BLEICHERWEG 3
8001 ZURICH

Opening hours:
Wednesday - Friday
12 PM - 6 PM 
& by appointment

T.: +41(0) 44 221 51 21
F.: +41(0) 44 221 07 61
officedierking.ch
www.dierking.ch


WE NEITHER USE NOR CHERISH
Twitter | Meta etc.


IMPRINT
© DIERKING 2022