Artists

Richard Paul Lohse

Press release

A Museum Haus Konstruktiv exhibition in cooperation with the Richard Paul Lohse Foundation, MASI Lugano, the Josef Albers Museum in Bottrop, and the Wilhelm Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen am Rhein

Museum Haus Konstruktiv’s programme for the year 2026 begins with a comprehensive solo exhibition on Richard Paul Lohse (1902–1988). This artist, graphic designer and theorist from Zurich was one of the key figures in constructivist-concrete art. With his multifaceted oeuvre, he shaped not only the development of modern Swiss graphic design, but also the post-war period’s international avant-garde.

5.2.– 10.5.2026
curated by Sabine Schaschl und Evelyne Bucher

The exhibition at Haus Konstruktiv presents over fifty paintings from four decades: from the 1940s to shortly before Lohse’s death in 1988. The focus is on his painted work, which evolved from early abstract approaches into a clear, geometric, systematic visual language, inspired by Russian constructivism and the de stijl movement.

His Modulare und Serielle Ordnungen (Modular and Serial Orders), in which colour, form and structure merge to become a balanced non-hierarchical whole, exemplify his conviction that aesthetic and social principles were inextricably linked.

Together with Max Bill, Camille Graeser and Verena Loewensberg, Lohse was one of the core Zurich Concretists and gained recognition worldwide with numerous international exhibitions.

To accompany the exhibition, a catalogue has been published by Hatje Cantz Verlag (in German, English and Italian) with contributions by Tobia Bezzola, Evelyne Bucher, Taisse Grandi Venturi, Sabine Schaschl and Linda Walther.