Hans Krüsi
(1920–1995)
BornSwitzerland
ActiveZurich, Switzerland
DiedSankt Gallen, Switzerland
BiographyFor decades, Hans Krüsi was an eccentric presence on Bahnhofstrasse, the lively luxury shopping street in Zurich, Switzerland. Wearing a hat decorated with artificial blooms, he sold bouquets of daffodils, rhododendrons, and roses, as well as bright drawings and paintings of alpine life. Along with rustic farmhouses and church spires in mountainous settings, a recurrent theme was the Alpaufzug processions, when cows return to summer pastures. His drawn and stenciled subjects embellished his postcard-size paintings, wood assemblages referred to as “cow machines,” and sculptures made of found objects such as bottles, milk cartons, and shopping bags. He created constantly, using soft brushstrokes on paper napkins and coasters found in cafés, letting the ink soak into the material. In his exuberant experimentation, he sometimes painted forms in psychedelic colors before defining with bold lines the shape of an animal or tree. He also used techniques such as spray-painting over fern leaves for an organic pattern.Born in 1920, Krüsi was raised in German-speaking eastern Switzerland by foster parents on a farm and later lived in an orphanage. He subsequently lived an itinerant life on the margins, finding shelter in derelict buildings in St. Gallen. He started selling flowers after World War II but began making art only in the mid-1970s. In his home and studio in St. Gallen, which he left daily to journey to Zürich with his flowers and art, cats and pigeons moved in and out freely in a space that evolved as its own art environment. The thousands of Polaroid photographs he took capture the formation of his creative life. Particularly attuned to seasonal shifts, he obsessively chronicled the repetitions of the world around him, notably by creating audio recordings of insects, birdsong, bells in St. Gallen, and, of course, cows. His “cow machines,” which he activated like film strips, reference the cacophonous cattle homecoming, soundtracked by the large bells clanging on the animals’ necks.
Krüsi’s drawings caught the attention of Galerie Buchmann in St. Gallen, leading to his first exhibition in 1981 and recognition in the local press. He was soon advertising himself as a painter with business cards. After his death in 1995, the Kunstmuseum Thurgau received a major bequest of his art and archives.
Allison C. Meier, 2025
Text written as part of “Rethinking Biography,” an initiative supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).