Otto Tschumi | |
Birth Date: | 4 August 1904 |
Death Place: | Bern, Switzerland |
Movement: | Surrealism |
Spouse: | Beatrice Tschumi (née Gutekunst) |
Otto Tschumi (4 August 1904 – 18 February 1985 in Bern)[1] [2] was a Swiss painter, considered one of the most important Swiss surrealists.
Born to a cabman and a seamstress, Tschumi grew up in modest circumstances in Bern and attended school there. He worked in Nancy, Switzerland as a lithographer but was also able to earn his living as a graphic artist, creating posters, stamps, and other graphics. He was originally self-taught, but began to refine his style after entering an art trade school and receiving guidance from Ernst Link in the 1920s. In 1933, he married the dancer Beatrice Gutekunst, with whom he stayed until the end of his life. From 1936 to 1940, after a short six month stint in London with his wife, he lived in Paris with Beatrice. Tschumi kept in contact with other prominent surrealists, including: Max Ernst, Jean Arp & Alberto Giacometti throughout his life in Paris.