{"id":184847,"date":"2025-10-14T15:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=184847"},"modified":"2025-10-21T17:58:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T16:58:27","slug":"the-most-beautiful-safe-place-for-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=184847","title":{"rendered":"The Most Beautiful Safe Place for Artists."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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 <\/a><\/strong>doesn’t jump to mind as The Most Beautiful Safe Place for Artists<\/em>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lugano: A City in Switzerland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city of Lugano in southern Switzerland sits by the beautiful glacial waters of \u00a0Lake Lugano, at its full width, and, together with the adjacent town of\u00a0Paradiso, occupies the entire, strikingly beautiful, bay of Lugano. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Glacial Lake Lugano, situated on the border of Switzerland and Italy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unsurprisingly, seeing as its sister village is called Paridice, it is a stunning location. It is south of the\u00a0Alps, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artistic Spaces<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. M\u00e9ret Oppenheim<\/a><\/strong>, with other artists who followed the German-born Swiss\u00a0Surrealist\u00a0artist and photographer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artists Residence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a><\/strong>, Hans Richter and Ignazio Silone.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Carona, Casa Aprile, left and right-hand side Casa Contanza. Image Cosimo Filippini 2025 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Artist’s Home. Casa Costanza and Casa Aprile<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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