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The Glorification of Applied Art: A Unique Swiss Foundation Keeps Great Tapestries Like New
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11827 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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8 / 1987 |
1,864 Words |
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Annemarie Monteil
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A man had a dream forty years ago. Swiss collector Werner Abegg yearned to have a museum to house his collection of old tapestries and textiles. Since these materials are so fragile, he wanted a workshop for restoration as an annex to the museum. Abegg, who died in 1984 at the age of 81, slowly made his dream a reality: the Abegg-Stiftung in Riggisberg.
Werner Abegg was born to a family long active in the textile business, which, already in the last century, had expanded to international activities. In 1924, young Werner assumed the direction of the cotton spinning and weaving mills in Turin, northern Italy. He managed the business with success until the political situation in 1940 forced him to place the operation in the hands of an employee. Since that time, he lived in New York as well as in Turin. In New York, he found an understanding wife in the American art historian Margaret Daniels. The couple spent the major part of the last twenty years in Riggisberg. The foundation became their raison d'etre.
While still in his twenties, Abegg began collecting pieces of textile art. His practical and theoretical knowledge as a textile industrialist gave him the advantage of an infallible feeling for material, while his concept of beauty allowed him to recognize the artistic merits.
Fragile Fabrics
Half a century ago, textiles did not yet have today's commercial value. Many more of them were also available. Abegg had opportunities of buying textiles that would be the envy of any textile collector today. Because textiles of earlier times were not yet considered as having any value as autonomous pieces of art, the fragile fabrics were frequently handled very carelessly. They were used as casual decorations or were improperly stored.
At that time, Abegg began to plan not only to finance a museum but also to establish a place where textiles could be saved from deterioration. His dream of saving valuable old textiles from all over the world led to the creation not only of an exhibition gallery but of the Abegg-Stiftung. The foundation (stiftung) was endowed by the Abeggs with such generous means that it can finance, with no assistance from the government, an ambitious range of activities: a museum, a textile restoration shop, and a scientific institute. Patrons of the arts of such generosity are a rarity in Switzerland.
Werner Abegg sought a site in tranquil, beautiful countryside for his museum. He wanted to have his own home built in the immediate proximity. He finally found his ideal location in the green country near the village of Riggisberg, barely an hour by car from Bern, the federal capital of Switzerland. Rolling hills, vast forests, a view of the Alps, and wide-open sky form the splendid setting. The museum and the workshops were designed by Gyula Szechenyi based on sketches by Michael Stettler, and were inaugurated in 1967.
The museum is open to the public during the summer months from May to October. In the rooms of the extended building a representative selection from the textile and art collections of Werner and Margaret Abegg are on exhibit. The objects mirror the predilections of the collectors.
Werner Abegg's interest
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