Heinrich Nyffenegger
Born in 1895.
Died in 1968.
Swiss interwar figuration · Bernese and Alpine landscape, graphic art and caricature.
Heinrich Adolf Nyffenegger-Bocchetti (Lenzburg, 3 July 1895 – Bern, 15 August 1968) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and graphic artist, active chiefly in Bern. His work encompasses landscapes, still lifes, figures and caricatures. After commercial training and several years working for military insurance, he turned to the visual arts.
In 1920–1921 he studied painting with Marguerite Frey-Surbek and life drawing with Ernst Linck in Bern. He continued his training with Josef Eberz in Munich in 1922–1923 and attended the Académie André Lhote in Paris in 1927. A study stay in Mallorca in 1930 completed this formation.
Nyffenegger concentrated especially on the Bernese and Alpine landscape. The River Aare, the Alps, the Schwarzwasser and the Sense region were among his preferred subjects. Earlier in his career he also produced figurative and religious compositions.
Alongside painting, he worked as an illustrator and caricaturist. He drew for Nebelspalter and Bärenspiegel — where he used names including Blasius Chemp, Mathias Chemp, Chemp and the abbreviation Nyff — as well as for the Schweizerisches Jugendschriftwerk. His illustrated books include Walter Ackermann’s Im Flugzeug, published in 1937, and Adolf Haller’s Der Schatz auf dem Bühl, published in 1938.
Nyffenegger appeared regularly in Swiss exhibitions over several decades. Documented appearances include the Turnusausstellung of 1929, “Junge Berner Künstler” at Kunsthalle Bern in 1930, the nineteenth Swiss National Art Exhibition at Kunstmuseum Bern in 1936, the first Swiss caricature exhibition at Kunsthalle Bern in 1938 and “Moderne Handzeichnungen von Schweizer Künstlern” in 1949.
The Bern City Archives preserve in their graphic collection his poster “750 Jahre Bern, Jubiläums-Ausstellungen” of 1941, printed by Kümmerly & Frey. It illustrates his contribution to the city’s cultural communication. Paintings and drawings offered by Dobiaschofsky and Koller further document his oeuvre.
Alpine and lakeside oils, drawings, caricatures and posters form distinct categories both for research and for comparing prices.
