Grotesque and yet Human – Varlin's Last Great Painting

"As time goes by, I am discovering the masochistic tendency of intellectuals to let me paint them. Their Schadenfreude is leading to ever more recommendations, so that Frisch is soon followed by Dürrenmatt", the artist Varlin writes in 1966 in a short autobiography.

And indeed, Willy Guggenheim, Varlin's real name, is visited by many intellectuals, including Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Varlin also has many visitors in Bondo, to where the Zurich-based artist is increasingly retreating. His wife, Franca Giovanoli, is a native of the village in the Val Bregaglia; they marry in 1963. Varlin is fond of the local community in Bondo. He even portrays them in his last, monumental painting, entitled "Die Leute meines Dorfes" ("The People of My Village").

The picture, which Varlin paints around 1975 with oil, charcoal and a felt-tip pen on two large tarpaulins, resembles a grotesque dance of death. Be it the teacher, the nurse or the mountain guide from the village, all the characters in the painting, which is more than seven metres long, appear like caricatures. However: Varlin is not mocking the people of Bondo. Rather, he shows their humanity and reminds us of the mortality of every human being. The painting is kept in the Museo Ciäsa Granda in Stampa and is presented in the temporary exhibition "Varlin - Bondo, la Bregaglia e il mondo".