Walter Bucher

Walter Bucher was born in rue de Chêtre in Delémont in 1925. He was already a youngster and drew. During drawing lessons with his teacher Armand Schwarz, painter from whom he was inspired, he discovered a passion for this art.

After an apprenticeship as a draftsman, he obtained an architect's diploma from the Technicum of Biel, a profession he practiced until 1958, when he was appointed to the Service des Ponts et Chaussées as deputy engineer. cantonal. Also called upon to give courses at the Professional School of Delémont, it is with enthusiasm that he passed on his knowledge to apprentice draftsmen for many years.

In 1988, he settled in Jongny on the heights of Lake Geneva and at the foot of Gruyère. The fascinating landscapes of this region will inspire his works of the moment. He will know how to integrate the atmosphere of the place. After the death of his wife Anne-Marie, in 2013, he became closer to his family in Biel, where he resides.

Noticed by Paul Bovée and Laurent Boillat, in 1955 he was invited to participate in the founding of the Society of Jurassic Painters and Sculptors.

Walti, as he is known, practices his art in various techniques such as pencil, ink, chalk, gouache, oil and watercolor. Every free moment is a pretext to lay down on the canvas a subject sketched from life in his sketchbook, in which he specified in particular the colors, the place and the date.

The themes are varied: landscapes of the Franches-Montagnes, built heritage, horses, characters, portraits, musicians, still lifes, trees, fauna, etc ... France and in particular the Loire, Normandy and Brittany with its ports fishing, trawlers and crustaceans, but also Italy with Rome and Venice, Sardinia, Israel with Jerusalem and its regions, are places that have filled him with enthusiasm and whose atmosphere he has been able to transcribe. The biblical scenes represented in his painting are also his desire to share his love for Christ.

His sure pencil stroke, the mastery of perspective, the harmony of colors, the construction of the proportions of the golden section on the grid, are visible in each of his compositions. They give a feeling of fullness in front of these lines where the architectural rigor of the drawing forms the solid base expressed in his work.

His gifts do not stop at painting, he readily trades his brush for one of the few instruments he likes to play, with a predilection for the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.

On the occasion of the 45th Danse sur la Doux, for the first time, his sketches and sketches on his hometown are presented and reproduced in this notebook. Some sketches are accompanied by the reproduction of the completed work.

Around 75 years of artistic production, around twenty exhibitions in Switzerland, more than 1,700 numbered works, numerous lithographs, color reproductions and posters, thus constitute an important document for heritage, the Jura in particular.