In view of the opening of its new premises in the Palazzo Ransila I, Amgest SA, in collaboration with the archive of the Swiss photographer Kurt Ammann, who passed away this October in Milan, pays homage to his work and exhibit some twenty of his shots.
Positioning itself strategically in the wealth management sector, which is showing increasing attention to the communication potential of art and the beauty of these cultural heritages, Amgest SA will keep the exhibition open throughout 2023 for art enthusiasts to visit (by private invitation only).
Kurt Ammann’s story, in the selection curated by Angelica Moschin in collaboration with Amgest SA, is intended above all as an ode to Switzerland, which is both Ammann’s and Amgest’s homeland and cultural matrix. At the center of the exhibited shots are Ammann’s unmistakable alpine landscapes, the Swiss Boy Scouts, the shepherds supported by the Red Cross, the healthy smiles of boys growing up in pristine nature. With the energy that is typical of the young generations, Ammann eye-witnessed a society that was recovering from the horrors of the Second World War, and through his shots he captured the newfound joie de vivre in all those who had experienced the suffering of the war just ended and were finally opening up to a future full of hope and expectations.
His clear and essential style, the formal elegance and compositional rigor of his works contribute to place Ammann at the apex of the Swiss fine-art photography movement, which along with design and architecture has spread its influence worldwide. Ammann’s obsessive attention to perspective, skillful use of light, use of the darkroom, and then his talent and surprising framing technique are evidence of his meticulous art, but also reveal poetry and gentleness in portraying situations and subjects that trustingly give themselves to the photographer’s eye.
Kurt Ammann (Bern, 1925 – Milan, 2022) lived and worked in Paris, Munich and Bern. As a UN envoy, he spent two years in South Korea and Japan. As a photojournalist, he made reportages throughout Europe, North and South America and Canada.
In 1956 he held a solo exhibition in Toronto, Canada, at the Royal Ontario Museum. This was followed by several travelling exhibitions in major cities in North America. In 2017, he held a solo exhibition at the 29 Arts In Progress gallery in Milan. In 2018, he participated in a group exhibition in Legnano, at the Palazzo Leone da Perego.
In 2022, his works were exhibited at Palazzo Pirelli (Milan) in an exhibition entitled “Youth – the age of innocence”, sponsored by the Consulate General of Switzerland in Milan and later in Venice at Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi.
His works have been published in several international magazines, including Weltwoche, Du, Annabelle, Schöner Wohnen, Grazia, Time, Life. His editorial publications include Un peu de Brasil by Maurice Sandoz and the Berlitz Guides on Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Sicily. The author’s retrospective monograph, Kurt Ammann – Photoreporter since 1948, is published by Chimera Editore.
Exhibition curated by Angelica Moschin
Amgest SA
Ransilia Palace I (6th floor)
Viale Pretorio 9
Lugano, Switzerland
www.amgest.ch
The exhibition can be visited by private invitation.
Please contact Mr. Andrea Trapanese for an appointment: [email protected]
