Adolf Dietrich

Adolf Dietrich (November 9, 1877 – June 4, 1957) was a Swiss laborer and artist associated with New Objectivity. He is one of the most renowned Swiss naïve artists and painters of the 20th century.

Biography Adolf Dietrich was born to poor farmers in the canton of Thurgau as the youngest of 7 children. Upon discovering his exceptional graphical talents, his schoolteacher suggested that he become a lithographer. His parents, however, refused since he was needed as a farmhand.

Dietrich lived in the house of his parents, as a bachelor, for the rest of his life. Because the small farm provided little income, he had to work as a homemaker and as a day laborer in a local textile mill and in the woods. He was only free to engage in drawing and painting on Sundays. His first sketchbook dates to 1896, his first paintings to 1900. He created his works without any training or examples; but he did heed the advice of passing landscape painters to trust in his powers of observation. In 1924, Dietrich was able to cease homemaking due to the income provided by the sale of his works in Germany. fêted him as the principal representative of naïve art. In May–June 2010, his works were featured in the Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York along with works by Richard Phillips.

Resales Painting Creation date Sale date Sale price Ref(s). Herbstgruss 1922 2 December 2007 CHF192,000 Frühling am Untersee 1919 2 December 2007 CHF192,000 Eisvogel in Winterlandschaft 1953 15 June 2008 CHF156,000 Buchfink auf kahlem Ast 1954 30 November 2008 CHF12,780 Marder 1954 20 March 2011 CHF156,000

Exhibitions (selection) Otto Dix – Adolf Dietrich. Two Painters on Lake Constance, Museum zu Allerheiligen (5.4.–17.8.2025) The New Objectivity. A Centennial, Kunsthalle Mannheim (22.11.2024–9.3.2025) Which Modernism? In- and Outsiders of the Avant-Garde, Sprengel Museum Hannover (6.5.–17.9.2023), Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz (22.10.2023–14.1.2024) Schall und Rauch. Die wilden Zwanziger, Kunsthaus Zürich (3.7.–11.10..2020) Magritte, Dietrich, Rousseau. Visionäre Sachlichkeit, Kunsthaus Zürich (8.3.–8.7.2018) Adolf Dietrich. Mondschein über dem See, Kunstmuseum Thurgau (27.8.–17.12.2017) Neu. Sachlich. Schweiz. Malerei der Neuen Sachlichkeit in der Schweiz, Museum Oskar Reinhart (2.9.2017–14.1.2018) 27 Artists. 209 Works, Zander Collection (20.3.2016–29.1.2017) Adolf Dietrich / Richard Phillips. Painting and Misappropriation, Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York (7.5.–26.6.2010), Kunstmuseum Thurgau (29.5.–28.8.11) Naive Art: In Quest of Lost Paradise, Kunst Haus Wien (4.10.2001–3.2.2002), Reiss-Museum (23.2.–30.6.2002), Kunsthalle Recklinghausen (28.7.–13.10.2002) Adolf Dietrich und die Neue Sachlichkeit in Deutschland, Kunstmuseum Winterthur (4.9.–20.11.1994), State Museum for Art and Cultural History (4.12.1994–5.2.1995) Die Kunst der Naiven, Haus der Kunst (1.11.1974–12.1.1975), Kunsthaus Zürich (25.1.–31.3.1975) Masters of Popular Painting: Modern Primitives of Europe and America, Museum of Modern Art (27.4.–24.7.1938) Adolf Dietrich, Das Kunsthaus Mannheim (4.–5.1922)