Ernst Scheidegger
author · photographer
Ernst Scheidegger (1923–2016) was a prominent Swiss photographer, painter, graphic designer, editor, and publisher. He is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished portraitists of the 20th century, particularly for his intimate and iconic photographs of artists such as Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, and Salvador Dalí. Scheidegger began his career in window dressing before training in photography at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. He worked as a freelance photojournalist for the Magnum agency in Paris during the 1950s, covering reports across the Middle East and Asia. In addition to his photographic work, he was an influential figure in Swiss design, serving as a lecturer at the School of Design in Ulm and founding his own publishing house, Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess. He also operated an art gallery in Zurich and produced numerous documentary films on visual artists.[1,2]
- Artist portraits
- Modernism
- Swiss design
- Documentary photography
Works by Ernst Scheidegger
- 2006 Alberto Giacometti: Sculpture in Plaster Co-authored with Christian Klemm.
- 1990 Spuren einer Freundschaft / Alberto Giacometti (Traces of a Friendship) Overview of his interest in Giacometti.
- 1964 Alberto Giacometti Documentary film completed in 1966.
Exhibitions
- 1991 Ernst Scheidegger
- 2024 Eye to Eye: Homage to Ernst Scheidegger
Awards
- 2001 Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 2003 Heinrich Wölfflin Medal
- 2011 Design Prize of Switzerland