Max von Moos
Born in 1903.
Died in 1979.
Max von Moos (1903–1979), a painter and draughtsman from Lucerne, ranks among the important figures of Swiss Surrealism. He lived in Lucerne all his life and taught for more than thirty years at the city’s School of Applied Arts. After training in Lucerne, he studied in Munich under Jan Thorn-Prikker, then interrupted his artistic practice to train as an antiquarian bookseller in Basel.
Returning to Lucerne in 1929, he resumed his work and became a teacher at the School of Applied Arts in 1933.
His oeuvre took shape through a dialogue between observation of the body, anatomical studies and imaginary deformation. His drawings from nature, particularly studies of limbs and joints, shed light on the genesis of his Surrealist images. A founding member of Allianz, an association of Swiss modern artists, he took part in the artistic debates of his time.
A retrospective was devoted to him at the Kunstmuseum Lucerne in 1961. From 1973 onwards, a worsening of his visual problems forced him to abandon oil and tempera painting; he continued to draw with felt-tip pen. The Max von Moos Foundation, established after his death in accordance with his wishes, oversees the preservation and study of his oeuvre.
