Robert Walser (1878 – 1956) is regarded today as one of the most important authors of the twentieth century. The exhibition Paying No Attention I Notice Everything. Robert Walser and the Visual Arts traces Walser’s manifold impact on the visual arts by presenting contemporary artwork as well as paintings from Robert Walser’s time.

One part of the exhibition focuses on national and international contemporary artists who examine various aspects of the writer’s personality and work. Artists Ian Breakwell, Marie José Burki, Dexter Dalwood, Thomas Hirschhorn, Heiner Kielholz, Klaus Lutz, Markus Raetz, Daniel Roth, Thomas Schütte, John Tremblay, Rosemarie Trockel, Marcel van Eeden and Mark Wallinger have agreed to contribute works to the exhibition. The selected artworks which include figurative as well as abstract paintings, drawings, video works, expansive installations and sculptures, reveal the impact that Robert Walser continues to have as a source of inspiration.

Alongside the contemporary works the historic section shows paintings that one could have encountered during his lifetime at Robert Walser’s places of residence, Switzerland and Berlin. The contrast between the images of his provincial home and those of the metropolis Berlin at the beginning of the twentieth century is instructive: on the one hand placid landscapes of the Bernese Seeland by, say, Philippe Robert or Ernst Geiger, and on the other avantgarde works by artists still known today, such as Lovis Corinth, Max Liebermann and Max Slevogt, who found their inspiration in the city life of Berlin.

The Aargauer Kunsthaus thanks the Robert Walser-Zentrum in Bern for
their cooperation.

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