After the First World War, New Objectivity appeared as a counter-movement to wild Expressionism. As the name suggests, this is a very sober style. Things are depicted in a very ‹matter-of-fact› way. Niklaus Stoecklin from Basel was one of the first artists to revisit painterly traditions.

Albert Müller from Basel is considered one of the main representatives of Swiss Expressionism. He received his first artistic training in a glass-painting studio and at the trade school in his native city. At the age of 24, the local socio-cultural and political restrictions prompted Müller to move to the Canton of Ticino.

Giovanni Giacometti, the father of sculptor Alberto Giacometti was, together with Cuno Amiet, one of the first Swiss artists to take up the modern French trends of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Fauvism and make them relevant for the Swiss art scene. In

Cuno Amiet was one of the great innovators of Swiss painting around 1900. Influenced by contemporary French art, he broke away from the tradition of the nineteenth century and overcame the dominant influence of Ferdinand Hodler.

«What I love most is the sun, after the sun spring, then the springs that gush crystal clear from the rocks in the Alps, that trickle in the veins of Earth and flow like the blood in our own veins.» This diary entry, written by Giovanni Segantini on January 1st, 1890, reads like the motif of our painting.

This Italian girl in the traditional costume of Procida marks the beginning of Louis-Léopold Robert's rise and success as a painter – a success that soon spread from France and Italy to Prussia and Russia.

Wilhelm Leibl had had enough of Munich and the often disparaging criticism of his work by the local art scene, so in 1873 he decided to retreat to the countryside. his change of location also changed his style of painting in terms of not only form, but also in terms of content.

The German artist Anselm Feuerbach was familiar with the classical texts and he also attended a performance of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera Iphigénie en Tauride in Munich. Above all, however, it was Goethe’s 1787 treatment of the story that was decisive for Feuerbach's portrayal. It was through Goethe’s drama that Iphigenia became a symbol of yearning for Greece.

Arnold Böcklin’s Pan in the Reeds tells a story of unfulfilled love. In his Metamorphoses, the Roman poet Ovid describes how Pan fell in love with the nymph Syrinx. However, she was repelled by his advances, fled and implored the gods for help. They responded to her plea and instantly transformed the nymph into reeds.

Geneva artist Jacques-Laurent Agasse specialised in depicting animals from a young age. Since he partly grew up in the countryside, he got to observe horses and dogs in their natural environment.