Otto Bänninger

Otto Charles Bänninger (24 January 1897 – 15 May 1973) was a Swiss figurative sculptor who received first prize for sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1942. Trained under Émile-Antoine Bourdelle in Paris, he became known for portraits and monuments.

Biography Otto Charles Bänninger was born in Zurich on 24 January 1897. From 1913 to 1918, he completed an apprenticeship in sculpture under Franz Wanger in Zurich. and he married Johanna Stern in 1953. In the 1930s, he developed a more contemplative approach to the classical human figure.

For the 1939 Swiss National Exhibition in Zurich, Bänninger produced the plaster sculpture Knabe mit Pferd. The horse was later destroyed, while the figure of the boy is held by the City of Zurich. The complete work is now known only from photographs. Several of his public sculptures remain in place across Switzerland.

In 2013, his family donated his written estate to the Swiss Art Archive. The collection includes correspondence with his wife, the sculptor Germaine Richier, as well as letters from artists and writers, including Cuno Amiet and Hermann Hesse.

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