This artist, graphic designer and theorist from Zurich was one of the key figures in constructivist-concrete art.

A Museum Haus Konstruktiv exhibition in cooperation with the Richard Paul Lohse Foundation, MASI Lugano, the Josef Albers Museum in Bottrop, and the Wilhelm Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen am Rhein

Museum Haus Konstruktiv’s programme for the year 2026 begins with a comprehensive solo exhibition on Richard Paul Lohse (1902–1988). This painter and graphic designer from Zurich, who also made a name for himself as a theorist capable of incisive reflection, was one of the key figures in constructivist-concrete art. With his multifaceted oeuvre, he shaped not only the development of modern Swiss graphic design, but also the post-war period’s international avant-garde. From a present-day perspective, it is particularly remarkable that Lohse was already developing his rational and serial visual systems in the 1940s and 1950s, well in advance of the ideas along similar lines that would give rise to major art movements in the 1960s. He also demonstrated a strong commitment to socio-political issues, voicing his conviction that art, among other things, always conveyed social structures.

The current exhibition focuses on Lohse’s output as a painter. With over fifty works realised between 1942 and 1987, we provide insight into his oeuvre, which began with abstract approaches and evolved into a geometric, systematic visual language.