The many stations of an artist’s life

The current exhibition in the Z-Galerie is a tribute to the versatile and creative Baar sculptor Josef Staub (1931–2006).

The "Otello" – a striking steel sculpture by the local artist Josef Staub (1931–2006) stands in the Rathausplatz (town hall square) in Baar. Other works by him can be found in other municipalities, such as Allenwinden, Neuheim and Hünenberg, and the spiral of the fountain in the Herti in Zug comes is also from Josef Staub, which he created on behalf of the city of Zug in 1985/86. For projects like this, he first made  small-format models made of cardboard or plaster.

These designs and originals can be seen on a long table in the middle of the current exhibition in Maria Ziegler's Z-Galerie in Baar. A small selection of important works also reminds us of the artist from Baar: his paintings with abstract subjects hang there, created in mixed media or as idiosyncratic collages. In the latter, Josef Staub has incorporated newspaper clippings into the painted picture surface and symbolically painted over them with black or red colours. The oil paintings from the sixties, on show in the basement, are abstract compositions with rather dark layers of paint. In between there are some smaller sculptures made of chrome steel, which still provide inspiration today with their clear, simple lines and the perfect execution.

Details from his life and work
The video film about Josef Staub that was shown in the basement was received with interest at the well-attended vernissage last Saturday, but even more so the introduction by Fredi Staub, the artist's son, who now lives in Baden, Aargau. Because no one knew Josef Staub better than he did, and he was able to provide many cheerful reminiscences from the life of the artist: "He would have been 90 years old on 30 November, but he died in 2006."

Josef Staub was born in Baar in 1931, where he grew up in the former Kreuz Restaurant. He always liked to draw, and was visiting exhibitions in Zurich and Paris by the age of 16. "He was deeply impressed by modern, abstract art. But as he wasn’t allowed to become a graphic designer, he became a construction manager with his own business," says Fredi, the son born in 1953. Everyone smiled when he told how his father painted on the kitchen table at home at Gärtliweg 15, and ended up in the hospital after enjoying carmine red from the tube. The encounter with the gallery owner Giséle Réal in Ascona was important for his father, where he met many of the well-known artists of the time. He later joined forces with the artists from Central Switzerland.

Photo 1: The artist Josef Staub becomes tangible and tangible in the Z-Galerie.
Photo 2: Fredi Stab, the artist's son, reports on his father's life and work at the vernissage.
Photos: Jan Pegoraro, Baar

Josef Staub created his first oil paintings from 1950, and metal and stone reliefs from 1956 on. He was awarded the Swiss Federal Art Scholarship for painting as early as 1957, followed by another for sculpture in 1970. Fredi Staub told how his father travelled to Paris in 1957 with paintings on the roof of his Citroën 2CV in order to present himself to the galleries. The Kiefer-Hablitzel Scholarship in 1958 confirmed his path, and Josef Staub created the first three-dimensional works as early as 1960. An important experience was the participation in the 4th Documenta in Kassel in 1968.

Steel becomes Staub’s most important material
Josef Staub was soon able to exhibit in many galleries at home and abroad, and, from 1983, sculptures by him could even be found in public spaces in the USA. He was awarded various prizes and study trips, and several art books are dedicated to him. According to Fredi Staub, giving up his work at the construction company meant a lot to his father in 1970, "because he could now finally devote himself unencumbered to chrome steel work as an artist". Steel became Josef Staub’s preferred material, unmistakable, perfect, straightforward, clear, and also because rolled steel does not rust: "It’s the material of our time."

In conclusion, his son quoted the art publicist Willy Rotzler, who once aptly wrote: "The path of the sculptor Josef Staub is a long path with many stations. It has a deliberate, almost heavy-blooded consistency. Nothing was ever finished quickly, nor did he give in to the impressive effect, but rather the other way around – he always wanted to get to the bottom of something with an almost perverse doggedness. Although the plastic forms that he developed in recent years have something that is universally valid for all of us, because they are committed to today, they have nevertheless remained the personal expressions of an individual – a contemporary."

The "Homage to Josef Staub" exhibition runs until 5 December at the Z-Galerie Baar, Dorfstrasse 6a: Wed. – Fri. 3 – 6 p.m., Sat/Sun 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.