Varlin as a draftsman

Varlin, born Willy Guggenheim in Zurich in 1900 and died in Bondo in the Grisons in 1977, made a name for himself primarily as a painter and portraitist of well-known personalities such as Max Frisch, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Ernst Scheidegger, and Hulda Zumsteg. His drawings, on the other hand, have remained largely unknown. Sketchbooks were Varlin's constant companions, in which he recorded his impressions and experimented with pictorial compositions, cropping, or unusual angles of view. In his early years, he produced academic studies and nude drawings; later, he created visual satires and impressions of his travels, which found expression in countless travel journals. Accompanied by numerous color illustrations, Ulrich Binder's texts explore Varlin's graphic work through his artistic means, which range from pen and charcoal to ballpoint and fiber pens, as well as napkins or art catalogs as carriers of his drawings.