Philipp Bauknecht
Philipp Bauknecht (1884–1933) is regarded as one of the most distinctive figures of German Expressionism. After training at the School of Applied Arts in Stuttgart, he settled in Davos around 1910 for health reasons. Bauknecht’s unique position stems from the combination of his technical training, the Alpine way of life and his expressive use of colour.
Unlike many artists of his generation, he developed his visual language largely away from the major art centres. The Alpine landscape and the lives of the mountain people became the central themes of his work in Davos. Using bold colours, simplified forms and expressive lines, Bauknecht developed an unmistakable visual language that stands on its own alongside the art of his contemporary Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.
On 26 February 1933, Bauknecht died during an operation in Davos. Despite his untimely death, he left behind a significant body of work comprising paintings, watercolours and woodcuts. Today, Bauknecht is being rediscovered in particular as a key figure in Alpine Expressionism, and his works are held in major public and private collections.
A particularly significant re-evaluation of his work took place with the exhibition "Philipp Bauknecht – Davos Mountain Worlds in Expressionism", which was shown at the Museum Würth in Künzelsau in 2014 and subsequently at the Kirchner Museum Davos in 2014–15. The exhibition highlighted Bauknecht’s unique significance within Alpine Expressionism. Philipp Bauknecht has also gained considerably in prominence on the international art market in recent years. The highest publicly documented auction result to date is CHF 165,000 for “Old Peasant Woman with Chickens”, achieved at Koller in Zurich in 2021.
