A tribute to the art
of Christian Hess

Retrospective exhibition sponsored
by the European Parliament
13 June - 27 July 2008 Museum
Rabalderhaus Schwaz (Austria)
November 2008 – January 2009
Museo Civico Bolzano (Italy)

Thirtyfour years on from their rediscovery in Sicily, from 13 June the works of the German artist Louis Christian Hess (1895-1944) are once again to be available to the public in a joint exhibition organized by the Museum Rabalderhaus in Schwaz, the Austrian city where Hess died, and the Museo Civico in Bolzano, where he was born. Following a proposal by the Christian Hess Cultural Association, the event is sponsored by the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, as a tribute to the German artist’s ideals of peace and freedom. Hess, the leading light of the Juryfreie Movement, was forced by growing Nazi persecution to leave Munich in 1933. He sought  exile in Sicily; the island was to prove the principal source of his artistic inspiration. Many critics have recognized that despite the difficult times through which he lived, Hess nevertheless managed to create a body of work that is thoroughly European both in form and content.

There are elements of German expressionism, the plastic arts, the Italian Novecento and French cubism. The retrospective offers a broad and representative cross-section of Hess’ artistic output including many paintings which have never before been exhibited.