LGBT pioneer’s spectacular painting returns to Monte Verità

 | 
4/25/21

After a lengthy restoration, visitors can once again admire the 26-metre circular painting Il Chiaro Mondo dei Beati [The clear world of the blessed] by Estonian artist and LGBT pioneer Elisàr von Kupffer (1872-1932) at the Monte Verità museum complex near Ascona, in southern Switzerland. The polyptych depicts 84 male nude figures relaxing in idyllic scenery. It was produced in the region between 1920–1939 by Elisàr von Kupffer, a painter, poet, historian and playwright from Riga, Estonia, who has over the decades become an LGBT icon. It was rediscovered by legendary art historian and curator Harald Szeemann in the late 1970s, and has been renovated several times. Today, it sits in the Elisarion Pavilion on Monte Verità, the hill that overlooks the resort of Ascona on Lake Maggiore. The verdant hill in Italian-speaking Switzerland has always had a unique pulling power. In the early 20th century it became known as an alternative vegetarian colony, attracting artists, anarchists and intellectuals from around Europe. A small art centre was built on the Ascona hill in the early 1920s; later it became a hotel and seminar centre. Today, Monte Verità is a modern congress and cultural centre spread over seven hectares, run by a foundation of the same name.

Regions: ,

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 10/03/2024
10/02/2024
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has refused to sign into law a bill approved by parliament last month that rights groups and many opposition politicians …
Added on: 10/03/2024
10/02/2024
Kyrgyzstan’s government has proposed problematic amendments to the criminal code and other legislative acts that would restore criminal charges for the mere possession of …
Added on: 10/02/2024
10/02/2024
Cabrel Ngounou’s life in Cameroon quickly unraveled after neighbors caught the teenager with his boyfriend. A crowd surrounded his boyfriend’s house and beat him. …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Other News from ,

Added on: 10/03/2024
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has refused to sign into law a bill approved by parliament last month that rights groups and many opposition politicians …
Added on: 10/01/2024
A far-right party has won the most votes in an election in Austria for the first time since World War II. The pro-Kremlin, anti-Islamic, …
Added on: 09/30/2024
Russian authorities have been rounding up gay men and coercing them to fight in Ukraine, according to some recent reports. The Russian leader has long vilified …