The woodcarving workshop

Woodcarving is a very ancient popular art. In the 18th century, the woodcarvers from the valley of Lauterbrunnen and those from Grindelwald dominated the Swiss production. Later, the centre moved towards the region of Brienz - Meiringen.
Christian Fischer, a mountain dweller who had an artistic leaning, is considered to be the founder of woodcarving in the region of Brienz. Around 1820, he began to while away his long winter evenings carving tools and statuettes. When summer came he would sell his products to the tourists who came to see the Giessbach. Bit by bit, other of his fellow countrymen followed his example. Thus a form of work with a certain financial importance came into being.
In the whole of Switzerland there are nowadays 200 to 300 woodcarvers employed full-time or part-time.

Grand bouquetin. 1960-1979. Sculpté par Max Huggler, Brienz.

Ours, hiboux, bouquetins, marmottes, aigles, sanglier, vache, taureau, mouton. Production récente faisant partie du catalogue de l’atelier Huggler woodcarvings, Brienz.

  
In the region of Brienz alone, there are nearly 100 professionals. The canton school of woodcarving in Brienz is the only professional school of its type in Switzerland. Here the future carvers are trained by master carvers who work in companies teaching the apprentices.
The annual turnover for the jobs in the region of Brienz today may be estimated at over 10 million swiss francs.

Documentation: Huggler woodcarvings, Brienz.

The woodcarving workshop

We have seen that an object of folk art must not only have an aesthetic meaning but a practical function whose importance may vary. Sometimes, very rarely, its function disappears but any rural community, never allowing anything to get lost, will quickly invent a new one. […]
Applied art must always, unlike art brut, have a recipient, for instance its creator (example: a shepherd’s staff), a household, a village, or a wider social group. Its norms are the result of a consensus and very often of tradition.
More than a work of the fine arts, an object of folk art is linked to the seasons, to the calendar of religious or popular holidays and to some events such as engagements, weddings, and baptisms, which give its production rhythm and stimulus.
As it is well integrated in everyday life because of its size and function, it does no depend on fashion or time and can remain faithful to ancient patterns. It can unite elements taken from different periods and styles in the same décor. Due to these innocent anachronisms it is often more difficult to date than a great work of art whose creator may want to follow a certain tradition (even if he denounces his predecessors in inflammatory pamphlets), and which has historical connotations. […]
Usually made of common and perishable materials which are easy to replace and inexpensive, the object of folk art is much more threatened than a work of the fine arts. It can deteriorate – due to moths, rust, or woodworm – and then it is thrown away.

Nicolas Bouvier. 1991. L’art populaire. Disentis: Ed. Desertina, pp.10-12.

Etabli de sculpture sur bois, plus haut que celui d’un menuisier, ciseaux et maillet en bois, outils usuels du sculpteur sur bois, et principales étapes du processus de fabrication d’une pièce: dessin, prototype, deux pièces prédécoupées à la machine, une pièce travaillée par le sculpteur. Prêts Huggler woodcarvings, Brienz.

Saint-Bernard porte-parapluie. 1880-1890. Sculpté par M. Mäder, Hofstetten bei Brienz. Prêt Huggler woodcarvings, Brienz. Racheté en 1987 au fabricant de chocolat Giuseppe Pagani (Danglo/Valle Blenio) afin de témoigner de l’extrême dextérité des sculpteurs sur bois du siècle dernier.

Grand aigle. 1960-1979. Sculpté par Max Huggler, Brienz. Prêt Huggler woodcarvings, Brienz.

Populaire, l’art qui porte ce nom ne l’est pas vraiment auprès des philosophes et des théoriciens de la culture, du moins dans leur vie professionnelle. Quand il n’est pas ignoré avec superbe, il se voit reprocher son manque de goût et de finesse, et jeté à la poubelle de l’histoire de l’art. […]
La raison la plus profonde et la plus urgente de défendre l’art populaire est qu’il nous procure (même à nous, les intellectuels) une trop grande satisfaction esthétique pour tolérer qu’on lui reproche d’être dégradé, déshumanisé et esthétiquement illégitime. L’accuser de ne convenir qu’au goût grossier et à l’esprit vulgaire des masses ignorantes et manipulées revient à nous dresser non seulement contre le reste de notre communauté, mais contre nous-mêmes. Nous sommes voués à dédaigner les choses qui nous donnent du plaisir et à avoir honte du plaisir qu’elle nous donnent.

Richard Shusterman. 1991. L’art à l’état vif: la pensée pragmatiste et l’esthétique populaire. Paris: Minuit, p. 138.

> Grand masque en palissandre. Art d’aéroport. MEN 65.16.140.