Rue de Genève animée, 1939

John Reitz  

Clever painter, always full of humor and creativity. Something “baconian”. An immediate shift, a desire to play. That we find in all his work. We are dealing with a radiant artist. Of those who pretend nothing however, are wary of any pose, which is probably why John Reitz has passed through the cracks of time. No one knows him.

There are many of them in Geneva, perhaps this observation should be blamed on the surrounding culture, rowdy exposure, until recently, was experienced as suicidal. At the very heart of realism - with this sculpture Naked young woman on her knees, hands tied behind her back, in a singular waiting position; this drawing of the Lady in a Hat, whose features boldly overflow the frame; or even this Indian ink from The Hen, whose anti-conformist trait would make the Academy howl - there are many Reitz subjects announcing the discreet rebellion.

It is hardly surprising that in the wake of this deceptive realism John Reitz dabbled in constructivism. Even less that he surprises us by throwing himself into them with a consummate art of the opposite: the mechanism of its complications itself seems crushed by the extraordinary luminosity with which it manages to deck them out, cutting the grass under the foot in any pragmatic discourse.

He died in 1982, but his work is so alive! Late teacher at the School of Decorative Arts in Geneva.