Die Surbeks

Typical last century: The talented woman in the background, the man in the center. Victor Surbek (1885–1975) decorated the dial of the Zytglogge tower in Bern and designed stamps, banknotes or tourism posters. He became famous as a landscape painter, influenced by Ferdinand Hodler. Marguerite Frey-Surbek (1886–1981) was introduced to paint as Paul Klee and then made a very independent artistic path as a painter, draughtswoman and graphic designer. Both were extremely successful, and their works were often exhibited. The journalist Markus Schneider is now looking for both Surbeks, he spoke with relatives, collectors, friends. In the spring, the couple worked together in the studio of Iseltwald on Lake Brienz, the rest of the year separately in the old town of Bern. Together they travelled to Calabria, New York, Corsica, Tunisia. They created a single work together: a 200-metre-long mural for the Swiss National Exhibition in 1939.