The Most Beautiful Safe Place for Artists.

It may be hard for us to imagine that being an artist was not always a safe job, not just the lack of money, but also politically or religiously safe. At certain times in history, if you were on the side of ‘modernism’ or worshipped in a certain way, your life could have been in danger, let alone your artistic freedom. In political climates not open to new ideas, this can still be a problem. The idea of a lakeside town in Switzerland doesn’t jump to mind as The Most Beautiful Safe Place for Artists, a comune for artists if you like, yet it was, at certain times in the last century, it became a haven for artists to work in freedom and peace.

Lugano: A City in Switzerland

The city of Lugano in southern Switzerland sits by the beautiful glacial waters of  Lake Lugano, at its full width, and, together with the adjacent town of Paradiso, occupies the entire, strikingly beautiful, bay of Lugano.

Glacial Lake Lugano, situated on the border of Switzerland and Italy

Unsurprisingly, seeing as its sister village is called Paridice, it is a stunning location. It is south of the Alps, and the city’s waterfront forms a circle around the bay. The deep waters of the bay are surrounded by beautiful mountain regions scattered with tiny villages. Both the western and eastern parts of the municipality share an international border with Italy, with the main tongue spoken being Italian.

Artistic Spaces

Its neutrality during WW2 made it an easy escape route for artists fleeing Germany and Italy, fleeing the nazis and the fascists. But why head to this particular area? What made it a welcome place?

In order to get a better understanding of its special artistic link, read about a direct lineage that joins up with the surrealist movement, and in particular, one female protagonist. Méret Oppenheim, with other artists who followed the German-born Swiss Surrealist artist and photographer.

She was a big link in the artists’ community that lived in this town above the lake called Carona. Oppenheim regularly stayed at her grandparents’ holiday home there as a child.

It was here that she created many childhood drawings alongside later important works. The Casa Costanza, also known as the Parrot House, is still a small palazzo and is now one of the most beautiful houses in this picturesque town.

Artists Residence

But before it became her home, the area already had strong connections to the creative world. From the early 1900’s the town was a safe haven, almost an artist’s commune for creatives and intellectuals in search of not just peace and quiet, but also as a hub for inspiration and freedom. Important creatives that spent time here included Johannes R. Becher, Bertolt Brecht, Hans Richter and Ignazio Silone.

Carona, Casa Aprile, left and right-hand side Casa Contanza. Image Cosimo Filippini 2025

The Artist’s Home. Casa Costanza and Casa Aprile

Having been forced to leave Germany because Openhiem’s father was a Jewish doctor and could no longer practise, the family moved to live full-time in what, ostensibly, had been the family’s holiday home, which she took over and turned into a living work of art. In time, it became her sanctuary. Behind the house was another home that looked onto the family’s garden, so they bought this house too, ensuring the privacy of Oppenheim. Casa Costanza was meticulously restored and reorganised, and called a Total Work of Art by Meret Oppenheim, between 1967 and 1968.

Casa Aprile, bought in 1969 by Meret Oppenheim and her brother Burkhard, and then it passed to his children Christoph Wenger and Lisa Wenger, who still stand as the keepers of their aunt’s estate.

Through Christoph, Casa Aprile became a utopian space for artists. Although he was not an artist, he had many links to and multiple friendships in the world of creatives, and so the space became a sanctuary for many. Casa Aprile became a focal point for culture and art in the late 1960s and 70s.

A Swiss Artist

It was here that young Swiss artist David Weiss found a stopping point to collect his thoughts on the artistic world he had spent much time exploring.

It was at Casa Aprile that he started his own artistic practice before her partnered with Peter Fischli. And it is the very private work that has become a new exhibition at the Museo d’arte Svizzera italiana, MASI Lugano, celebrated in the exhibition David Weiss: The Dream of Casa Aprile – Carona 1968-1978 before he partnered with Fischi in 1979.

David Weiss, MASI Lugano

This intimate exhibition has many works that include multiple disciplines and include a multitude of A4 sheets with sketches that seem like personal images of his creative mind: A privilege for the viewer to be ensconced in.

David Weiss became a renowned Swiss artist, mainly celebrated for his partnership with Peter Fischli and for their great works, such as The Way Things Go, a 16 mm art film. Born in Zurich, Weiss grew up as the son of a parish priest and a teacher. Along with drawing and an early love of collecting, his childhood passions included geography and history.

The Way Things Go Fischli Weiss 1987

Very rarely do we ever get to view these types of works, as though the viewer goes on the same journey, emotive and conceptual as the artist himself. The work in this new show allows the viewer a dialogue of sorts on his reflective time in the safest of artistic places.

His output in this time period was enormous, but very much feels like a documentation of his mind and spirit rather than giant artworks to go on show. Being surrounded by others within his field is part of the emotions behind the works on show.

This exhibition, which is very intimate, unsurprisingly, his son Oskar has been involved (and in previous exhibitions of his father’s works).  On show, as well as the drawings, are watercolours, photographs, sound recordings, videos, and ‘zines from the era. A cocophany, if you like, of an artist’s thinking; but also his personal journey.

What he shows mostly explores, in the most cherished of ways, is that at Casa Aprile, Weiss was in his formative yet explorative term: Cartoonish characters and ideas splash across the works on show, from humour to deeply sensitive. In many ways, it is a perfect precursor to his later collaborative works.

There are on show a few paintings and sculptures, but it’s the drawings that are most intriguing, alongside personal items like music and journals that give the most personal, affectionate layers to this exhibition.

David Weiss, MASI Lugano

Together from this time in a safe home, the viewer sees the incubation period of this man, which is rarely ever seen. A sliver, if you like, behind the works into the world he was experiencing with the other artists surrounding him.

David Weiss, MASI Lugano

David Weiss, who did renovation work in exchange for staying there, helped make Casa Aprile into a vibrant site for creative production and innovation and exploration, alongside such luminaries as Anton Bruhin, Urs Lüthi, and Peter Schweri, bringing new life to the village.

The exhibition at Masi Lugano respectfully highlights the importance of Carona, and the ten-year period David Weiss spent with others there, highlighting the personal yet important contribution this place made. A home where like-mindedness, friendship and collaborative ideas melded to build a young artist

Casa Aprile, alongside Casa Costanza, has now, thanks to this exhibition, been set in stone as an important community where art for art’s sake was explored and created. An important playground for true exploration and expression, and the gallery has shown a unique and highly personal side, not just of David Wess’s life but the whole of the whole community.

Find all you need to know about MASIlugano.com here and everything you need ot know about David Weiss, The Dream of Casa Aprile Carona 1968-1978 here, here from September 28, 2025 – February 1, 2026, LAC, Piazza Bernardino Luini 6, 6900 Lugano

If you enjoyed reading The Most Beautiful Safe Place for Artists, then why not read Beautiful Ancient Alchemy Here

.Cent Magazine, London. Luxury Mindset