Daniel Gallmann
Born in 1959.
Daniel Gallmann lives and works with his family in Oberbussnang, in the canton of Thurgau (f1). His documented singularity lies in a daily, repeated practice: for more than forty years, he has painted, day after day, the same two motifs—a hill or landscape (the «Pastorale») and a woman holding her child (f9). According to one source, this discipline has given rise to a body of some 3,000 paintings that continues to grow (f10).
Formally, Gallmann follows precise rules: he systematically chooses a landscape format for landscapes and a portrait format for figures, and invariably works in acrylic on wood-fibre panel measuring 40 × 35 cm (f11, f12). The consistency of this procedure forms part of a thematic conception initiated in 1983 and entitled «Figurenbild und Pastorale als Formen und Lebensformen» (f13).
After initially training at the Schule für Gestaltung Basel (1976–1980), he continued his studies at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1981 to 1988, where Eugen Gomringer and Franz Eggenschwiler are mentioned among his teachers (f2, f3). During his time in Düsseldorf, he obtained the Meisterschüler qualification in 1986 (f4). His institutional trajectory includes several forms of support: a Kunststipendium from the canton of Zurich for 1988/1990, a support prize from the Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft (UBS) in 1993, and contributions from the canton of Thurgau in 1996 and 2006, the latter specified as a Berlin‑Stipendium (f5, f6, f7, f8).
In terms of circulation, Gallmann has shown his work in more than twenty solo and group exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad, and his works have been presented, notably, at the Kunstmuseum Thurgau, the Kunstmuseum Singen, and in churches (f20, f14). The Kunstmuseum Thurgau notice further refers to an ensemble described as «Vier Gruppen à 12 Tafeln der 'Figurenbilder'» (f23).
A monograph published in 2025 brings together contributions by Bazon Brock, Paolo Bianchi, and Laura Vogt, as well as photographic portraits by Francis Dercourt; the public presentation of the book is announced for Friday, 12 December, at the Bernerhaus in Frauenfeld (f17, f18). The documented critical reception highlights in Gallmann a practice grounded in repetition, equalisation, and sustained exercise rather than in the pursuit of spectacle and permanent innovation (f19).