It was not until the age of 35 that Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930) turned to art at Waldau Psychiatric Hospital. In his small cell there, the traumatised handyman worked tirelessly as a draftsman, composer and writer on his Skt. Adolf=Riesen=Schöpfung, which would unfold over 25’000 pages. 

He weaved coloured pencil drawings, lines of music and whirling prose together into an intoxicating work of art, without a millimetre of free space. Wölfli thus created an œuvre unique in the art of the 20th century, whose poetic power continues to move us to this day. The cabinet-like show by the Adolf Wölfli-Stiftung condenses this powerful universe into an intimate encounter.

Curator: Hilar Stadler