Walter Ropélé
Born in 1934.
Born in Basel in 1934, Walter Ropélé developed a mode of painting attentive to landscapes, gardens and the effects of light. The works catalogued by his gallery range across the Engadine and its lakes, the Bernese Alps, Ticino and the shores of Lake Lucerne. This Swiss geography is complemented by urban views and still lifes: bouquets, fruit and objects placed in an interior.
Landscape nevertheless remains one of his most recurrent subjects.
The catalogues of his works make it possible to follow this artistic enquiry across several decades and a range of formats. “Morning atmosphere at Lake Sils” (1997), a view of Lake Sils, and “Thunersee. Uferpartie mit Jungfrau” (2018), an acrylic painting on canvas, each situate a specific place within a sensation of light.
Other titles evoke the snow of Silvaplana, clouds above the summits or the radiance of a garden. Ropélé returns to the variations of seasons and hours, to masses of colour and to the details that give rhythm to the gaze.
These paintings confer a renewed presence on familiar sites. Mountains and lakes are not merely topographical motifs: depending on the shadow, the weather or the season, they become distinct pictorial experiences. The available documentation comes chiefly from the gallery that represents the artist and from auction catalogues.
It makes it possible to situate works and their techniques, while the history of their reception in public collections remains to be established.
