Alfred Marxer
Born in 1876.
Died in 1945.
Alfred Marxer (born 28 June 1876 in Turbenthal; died 8 December 1945 in Kilchberg) is documented as a painter and graphic artist. From 1897 onwards, he studied under Gabriel von Hackl and Rudolf von Seitz at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Prior to this, he completed an apprenticeship as a decorative painter.
In 1914, he stayed in Paris and, from 1915 onwards, lived in Kilchberg, in the canton of Zurich.
Marxer worked as a graphic artist and illustrated posters and other printed matter, notably the catalogue for the Swiss National Exhibition in Bern in 1914 and an edition of Pallieter by Felix Timmermans. The landscape of Lake Zurich was among his recurring subjects: an oil painting entitled Vue sur le lac hivernal depuis Kilchberg, dated 1924, is a documented example. A self-portrait dated 1935, oil on canvas and recorded at auction, is also mentioned in the consulted entries.
He held solo exhibitions at the Kunstmuseum Winterthur in 1916 and 1926. The 1926 exhibition is attested by a poster signed “A.M.” and printed by Wolfsberg Zürich. After his death, works and graphic designs by Marxer were included in the retrospective Dreissiger Jahre Schweiz.
Werbestil 1930–1940 at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich in 1981.
According to the documentation, works by Alfred Marxer are held in several public collections: the Kunstmuseum Winterthur, the Kunsthaus Zürich, the Graphische Sammlung der ETH Zürich, and the Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv. In terms of distinctions, he received the federal art scholarship (Eidgenössisches Kunststipendium) in 1907 and third prize in the Prix Calame in 1921. In addition, after 1930, he published articles in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
The available evidence indicates a practice divided between painting—particularly landscapes of Lake Zurich—and graphic work for printed matter and posters, as attested by dated works and exhibition references.
