Max Kämpf

Max Kämpf (15 May 1912 – 26 September 1982) was a Swiss painter. Active in Basel from the 1930s onward, he worked in painting, drawing and fresco and was a founding member of the Basel artists' group Kreis 48.

Biography Max Kämpf was born in Basel on 15 May 1912. After training as a decorative painter between 1927 and 1930, he studied at the Basel School of Applied Arts in 1937 and 1938 before working as a freelance artist. During his apprenticeship, Kämpf copied paintings by Old Masters, and in the early 1930s he produced his first important independent works.

In 1948, Kämpf became a founding member of the Basel artists' group Kreis 48,

Kämpf worked in fresco as well as oil painting. After 1960, he frequently painted on roof tiles, and in the final decades of his career drawing became increasingly important within his work.

Legacy In 2019, Max Kämpf-Platz, a public square in Basel's Erlenmatt district, was officially opened and named in his honour.