SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Dieter Schwertberger

Born : 1942

Born in 1942 in Gresten, Lower Austria, Dieter Schwertberger, who signs his work De Es, first trains as an engineer in Vienna, graduating in 1962, before studying painting with Ernst Fuchs. His first paintings are shown in a solo exhibition in Vienna in 1964. In 1968, his portfolio *The Missing Weapon* is presented at Galerie Bernard in Solothurn; during this period in Switzerland, he meets H. R. Giger and exhibits with him.

During the “Stone Period”, his works mainly depict objects and figures shaped from stone or cracked rock. The triptych *The Joining*, associated with this period, is presented in SoHo, New York, for a year in 1977. In 1974, he publishes *Fundamental Images*, a book that helps disseminate the ideals of the Vienna School. A retrospective at Gruyères Castle presents these works in 1989.

Works from his New York period include drawings, lithographs and large panel paintings. He also creates images for the covers of *Omni Magazine*, as well as for the publication’s television and theatre advertising campaigns. He also completes *Dome of Peace*, a group of one hundred square paintings measuring approximately two metres on each side. Speaking about his sculptural work, he says that his first sculpture was a small Stoneman, before he made an installation of forty large figures, the Planetarians, for the city of Bern.

For the period 1990–2000, he chooses the name “Skin of the Earth” and develops the themes of nature, structure and the wave. Building on his work on the Planetarian sculptures, he develops a style he calls “Architexturen”, based on motifs of energy in motion and elementary spatial systems. Two publications mark this trajectory: *Heavy Light*, a selection of his works published in 1993, followed by *De Es Schwertberger – Architexturen Malerei 1992 bis 2007*, published in 2007. In 2015, he revisits the theme of the Stoneman in the *Neolithics* painting series.

This profile brings together identity references for Dieter Schwertberger and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

Documented auction references

Original catalogue wording

Ohne Titel, 2015
Öl auf Leinwand.

Date to be documented

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

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References excluded from statistics: attributions and special lots

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Photograph : Germann · Enlarge image ↗

Germann

3 Blätter: Ohne Titel

Each work: mixed media on paper.

Original catalogue wording

3 Blätter: Ohne Titel
Je Mischtechnik auf Papier.
Lot groupé — prix global

Date to be documented

Group lot — total price

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

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Sources and references

SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Profile updated : 2026-10-20

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Dieter Schwertberger

Documented auction references

Works recorded at auction

Untitled

Die Krise des Ikarus, 1967

Erleichterung, 1973

Betrachtung, 1974/2017

Ohne Titel, 2015

References excluded from statistics: attributions and special lots

3 Blätter: Ohne Titel

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