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]
Themes
- Artist portraits
- Modernism
- Swiss design
- Documentary photography
Books
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Alberto Giacometti: Sculpture in Plasterauthor · photographer
Works by Ernst Scheidegger
- Alberto Giacometti: Sculpture in Plaster 2006 · Scheidegger & Spiess · book · English ISBN 9783858817051 Co-authored with Christian Klemm.
- Spuren einer Freundschaft / Alberto Giacometti (Traces of a Friendship) 1990 · Verlag Ernst Scheidegger · book · German Overview of his interest in Giacometti.
- Alberto Giacometti 1964 · film Documentary film completed in 1966.
Exhibitions
- 1991 Ernst Scheidegger Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich solo
- 2024 Eye to Eye: Homage to Ernst Scheidegger MASI Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano solo
Awards
- 2001 Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French Government
- 2003 Heinrich Wölfflin Medal City of Zurich
- 2011 Design Prize of Switzerland Swiss Ministry of Culture