Thea Weltner (Therese Hermann)
1917 Jihlava – 2001 Zurich
Artist, scenographer, fashion designer, performer
Thea Weltner was born on April 21, 1917, in Jihlava, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Like her probable relative Gustav Mahler, she spent her childhood and youth in this city. As an adult, she left her hometown, and her path led her to various parts of the world.
After graduating from the Jihlava gymnasium in 1935, she studied philosophy at Charles University in Prague, but did not complete her studies. Between 1936 and 1937, she attended a fashion design school in Prague, and subsequently devoted herself to fashion, furniture design, and historical costumes. Her Jewish background, traumatic experiences during the war (when her entire family perished), and unfinished philosophical studies strongly influenced her later artistic development.
After World War II, she resumed her work in fashion – first in Prague, then from 1948 in Germany. She left Germany in 1949 and spent the next 17 years in Australia, focusing on fashion and painting. She returned to Europe in 1966 and settled in Switzerland. Between 1973 and 1974, she studied at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts.
Her works quickly attracted public attention, both in Switzerland and abroad. In 1979, she was admitted to the Society of Swiss Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (GSMBA). Weltner’s work spans exhibitions, scenography for theater productions, projects, and performances, including the “Golden Water Tower” project (1983, New York).
Her artistic style is characterized by fragility, pervasive mystery, and a predominance of white, with minimal use of other colors. Her themes often explore existential questions, humanity’s direction, the end of the world, cultural politics, and other topics that remain relevant today.
Thea Weltner passed away on May 17, 2001, in Zurich. In 2003, she was posthumously awarded the City of Jihlava Prize. The objects in this exhibition come from her estate and were placed in the Gustav Mahler House at her explicit request. Additional works can be found in the National Gallery Prague, the House of Arts Zurich, the Art Library of the State Museum in Berlin, and in private collections across Europe and the USA.
1979 – “Thought and Memory”, Zurich
“Lydia Welti-Escher”, Bern, House of Arts Zurich
1980 – “From Design to Sculpture”, GSMBA Exhibition, House of Arts Zurich
“Cabinet with Crown and Wings”, Galerie Walcheturm, Zurich
“Separation from Table and Bed”, Basel, Munich, Frankfurt
1982 – “Hommage to Vasilij Kandinsky”, theater scenography
“Away with Giants”, exhibited in Milan, Rome, Munich, Hamburg, New York
“Retrospective, Thea Weltner”, University Museum of Fine Arts, Marburg
“Fasten Your Seatbelts”, Zurich
1983 – “Golden Water Tower”, New York
1986–1987 – “Books Without Words”, Museum Bellerive, Zurich; Lausanne
Exhibition at Schedhalle, Zurich
1989–1990 – “Artist’s Books”, Galerie Michéle Keller, Bern
“Lydia Welti-Escher” (1979 installation), House of Arts, Bern
1993–1996 – Exhibitions of Zurich-based artists; Paulus Academy, Zurich
“Artistically Rendered Serving Cart”, exhibition supporting SOS Children’s Village, House of Arts, Zurich
“X-ray Assemblages”, Galerie Annamarie M. Anderson, Zurich
1998–1990 – “KunstAction im RotkreuzSpital”, Zurich
Exhibition at Schedhalle, Zurich
