Gottfried Honegger
* June 12, 1917 in Zurich; † January 17, 2016 ibid
Gottfried Honegger trained as a window dresser and went on the move as a designer and graphic artist. In 1939 he moved to Paris, where he created his first paintings and drawings.
In the late 1950s, Honegger moved to New York, where he met the abstract expressionists Mark Rothko and Sam Francis, as well as exponents of hard-edge painting such as Al Held. At the same time he worked with the pioneers of constructive and concrete art.
Back in Paris and Zurich around 1960, Honegger continued to paint on his square, monochrome white or red New York pictures. He began working with computers and became interested in scientific research. He dedicated his first large sculpture to Nobel Prize winner Jacques Monod.
Honegger’s work can be found in many countries, above all in Germany, France and Switzerland: in public spaces as well as in private and museum collections. One highlight is the Albers-Honegger Foundation, which opened in summer 2004 in Mouans-Sartoux in the south of France. It houses Gottfried Honegger’s collection and opened an exhibition of his works on January 24, 2016 entitled “alpha oméga”.
The artist received his most important honors in France and Switzerland: in 1985 he became the French «Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Letters». In 1987 he received the art prize of the city of Zurich. In the same year, the house for constructive and concrete art, today’s Haus Konstruktiv, was opened in Zurich on his joint initiative.