Sculpture, 2024

The Golden Landscapes series reflects a dream-like vision of the Swiss mountains, an ode to the beauty of these natural monuments. They recall the works of the Romantics who were fascinated by the dramatic dimension of this pristine environment. The landscapes draw inspiration from the neoclassical Geneva school of painting that celebrated the breathtaking and majestic character of the millennia-old Swiss Alps. Like religious icons, gold is used here to sacralize the subject. The Jungfrau, the Eiger, the Weisshorn and the Monte Rosa are among the timeless landmarks of the country that have inspired so many stories of alpine adventure. Using traditional engraving and gilding techniques, Philippe Cramer nourishes Swiss mythology by recreating the contours and formal characteristics of these famous mountains using gold paint. Having been distilled to their essence, these topographies become almost abstract, ethereal, as graphic monochrome gold compositions on the white Tassos marble. The slab of marble edges look as if the piece came from an archeological site, evoking a fragment of history, broken off from the wall of an ancient temple. Each work is unique, first draw by the hand of the artist to be then hand-carved and gilded.