Ida Buchmann

1911 to 2001, Switzerland

Ida Buchmann was born in Egliswil, Switzerland. Following an initial stay at the psychiatric clinic in Königsfelden in 1953, she continued to live there from 1966 until her death.

It was not until she was much older that Roman Buxbaum discovered her artistic talent in a painting workshop and encouraged her to pursue it. Much of her work was created during conversations and relates to what was being discussed at the time. Her art depicts her dreams and desires and frequently makes reference to love and friendship. She worked very quickly and often used large formats. The materials she used include acrylics, pastels, Edding markers, ink and watercolours. Her pictures, which are characterised by a thick stroke of colour, typically include human or animal figures with strong contours and intense colours, as well as hand-written texts. Ida Buchmann’s work is featured, for example, in the following venues: in the Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, in LaM, Villeneuve d’Ascq; in the Museum im Lagerhaus, Stiftung für schweizerische Naive Kunst und Art Brut (the Foundation for Swiss Naive Art and Art Brut), St. Gallen, the Charlotte Zander collection, Germany and the collection abcd/Bruno Decharme, France.

Selected works