Vallée d'été et vue sur le Mönch et Jungfrau, 1918

Paul Schürch  

Paul Schürch (Burgerort Sumiswald) was born on February 14, 1886 in Wangen-bei-Olten (Canton of Solothurn): his parents are Friedrich Schürch and Anna Bobst - data provided by René Schürch - no link with the Schürch database is still possible.

Paul went to school in Olten. He graduated from the Hochschule der Künste Bern (1906-1908). He then worked at the Académie des Beaux-Arts ( Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste ) in Karlsruhe and Munich, then he completed his training at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. From 1911 to 1921 he was an art teacher at Olten.

Then he chose the hard life of a free artist and lived in Interlaken from 1922 to 1926, in the Grisons from 1927 to 1928, in the Mesolcina valley (Ticino) from 1929 to 1934, in Beckenried and Sachselnen in 1935 and finally in Oberried (Lake Brienz) in 1939. He died in Olten on December 11, 1939, at the age of 55, from colon cancer.

He married Maria Hess in the 1920s; they have 6 children and will also raise Hugo Schneiter, from Maria's first marriage.

His work includes natural landscapes, portraits and still lifes, in oil or watercolor. His paintings are characterized by a strong drawing structure and a balanced color scheme. He exhibited regularly from 1912 until his death, notably at the Academia Olten. Paul Schürch is mentioned in the main dictionaries of the arts and painters.

He died in 1939.