Biography, life data

12 June 1917 Birth of Gottfried Honegger in Zurich.  

Father Gottfried Honegger is site manager for the construction of the 5-star Hotel Suvretta in St. Moritz, later the works for Building Department of the City of Zurich. Mother Georgina Margadant works in the catering trade.

Childhood in the grandparents' house on the Tschern farm in Sent, Lower Engadine, Swiss Alps.

1932-33 Attends the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts.
1933-36 Apprenticeship as designer / window dresser.
1938 Founded a studio for graphic art, together with the artist and graphic designer Warja Lavater.
1939 - 1960 Design of signets, Logos, posters, graphics, illustrations, exhibitions.
1939 Commissioned by the Economic Affairs Department for the "Landi", the Swiss National Exhibition
1939 Warja Lavater designs the Swiss Bank Corporation logo (3 crosses).
1939 Stay in Paris.
1940 Military service, 5 years national defence during WWII.
1940, 21 June: Marries Warja Lavater; lives on Dufourstrasse, Zurich.
1940 Commissioned by the Gewerbemuseum Basel for the exhibition "Das Schaufenster".
1940 Commission from Max Bill for Werkbund exhibition.
1941 Exhibition  „1848 -1948: From the Confederation to the Federal State“, Helmhaus Zurich.
1940 to 1945 active service - in this service he was committed against national socialist tendencies.
1942 Travelling exhibition on the "Anbauschlacht" (Battle of Cultivation) of the Federation of Swiss Consumer Associations "Mehr anbauen oder hungern" (organisation: Adolf Engesser, Head of Decoration Gottfried Honegger, poster Hans Erni, total of almost 30,000 visitors).
1943 Birth of daughter Bettina, 12 October.
1944 Birth of daughter Cornelia, 29 November.
1945 Move to Kirchgasse, Zurich, foundation of the Honegger+Lavater graphic design studio.
1945 Start of a long friendship with author Max Frisch.
1947 Design of the trade fair appearances of Schw. Handelsförderung Barcelona and Milan.
1947 Acquaintance, later friendship with Juan Mirò.
1948 Art form and natural form, Kunsthalle Basel.
1950 Commissioned by the Zurich Government Council for "Zurich 1351 - 1951".
1951 Design "Zurich Artists' Masked Ball".
1951 New York, acquaintance with Hans Arp, Richard Huelsenbeck.
1954 Foundation of "Club zur Schifflände".
1955 Construction of a studio in Gockhausen.
1956 Foundation of "Club Bel Etage" on the first floor of Restaurant Weisses Kreuz.
1956,57 Design for (among many more): LP Claude Debussy Streichquartett; Farbmusterkasten, Ciba Geigy; Club européen du disque; Sammlung für das Alter; Gabriel Fauré Quartett; Freies Kunstgewerbe; Kunstgewerbemuseum Zürich; graphis, etc.
1958 Radical reorientation, dissolution of the graphics studio, change of residence in Feldeggstrasse.
1958 As a graphic artist, lecturer, publicist and co-editor, he helps to shape modern Swiss graphic design.
1958 Move with family to New York, 23rd Street in the "London Terrace Building".
1958 Commission to build up an art collection for Ciby Geigy.
1959 Contacts with Al Held, Sam Francis, Mark Rothko, Al Jensen, Franz Kline.
1958 Sale of the first oil painting (to the artist Sam Francis).
1960, 27 February: Exhibition at Martha Jackson Gallery (guests: Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg).
1960 Purchases by the MoMa New York, beginning of friendship with MoMa director Alfred Barr.
1960 Return to Europe: GH to Sam Francis in Paris, Warja Lavater and children to Zurich.
From 1960 full-time freelance artist.
1967 acquaintance with the musician Pierre Barbaud, who composed with the cube
1967 acquaintance with biochemist and Nobel Prize winner Jacques Lucien Monod.
1970 Cooperation with the ETH, first computer drawings on the CDC 1604-A
1968 Visiting professor at the University of Texas, Dallas
1970 intensive examination of art in public space.
From 1970 numerous commissions in France (Dijon, Grenoble, Nancy, Nevers, Paris).
From 1971 numerous commissions in Germany (Braunschweig, Herford).
From 1972 Numerous commissions in the USA and Switzerland (Chur, Geneva, Maloja, Zurich).
From 1970 extensive exhibition activity in Europe and the USA.
1971 First encounter with his later partner Sybil Albers-Barrier
1972 Separation from Warja Lavater.
1972 Three large exhibitions at the same time, public commissions.
1974 First major commission abroad, "Structure 3" in Dijon.
1985 Honoured as Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France.
1986 Sculpture in public space in Seoul, South Korea.
1987 Art Prize of the City of Zurich.
1987 Co-founder of the Foundation for Constructive and Concrete Art Zurich.
1987 Stained glass window Nevers Cathedral.
1990 Founder of the Espace de l'Art Concret in Mouans-Sartoux, South France, together with Sybil Albers; conception of exhibition. In 1997, Gottfried Honegger and his partner Sybil Albers donated around 600 works of concrete and constructive art to the French state.
1992 Medal of Honour of the city of Rennes.
1992 Medal of Honour of the Academy of Poitiers.
1999 Appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur.
1996 Honoured as "Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres".
1997 One-hour portrait on Swiss television about GH
In 1998 Gottfried Honegger moved his main residence from Paris to Cannes.
2000 A large part of the work goes to the Michael Hilti Foundation.
2004 Albers/Honegger Collection builds own museum in Mouans-Sartoux, Southern France, with architects Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer.
2005 Return to Zurich, studio in Seefeld.
2007 On his 90th birthday: ETH Zurich, Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, Museum Liner in Appenzell.
2008 Prix Europa, European Cultural Project Prize for EAC.
2008 European Cultural Project Prize for Mouans Sartoux EAC.
2015 „Hommage en 12 suites“, Ensemble für neue Musik Zürich, world premiere.
2016 Gottfried Honegger dies on 17 January in Zurich.