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In the footsteps of Detlef Willand: The special exhibition in Immenstadt shows the diversity of the artist and “unicorn hunter” © Josef Gutsmiedl
At the opening of the special exhibition “Detlef Willand – A Retrospective” in the Hofmühle Museum in Immenstadt, the audience received well-founded insights into the life of the late wood cutter and local historian from the Kleinwalsertal.
Immenstadt
- At the opening of the special exhibition Detlef Willand - a retrospective in the Hofmühle Museum in Immenstadt, the audience received deep insights into the life of the late wood cutter and local historian from the Kleinwalsertal.
Finally, the hall of the Hofmühle was full to the last meter and the invited guests listened just as excitedly to the heartfelt anecdote from Susanne Willand, the artist's daughter, about families, joys and sorrows compared to her father's passion for hiking, as to the detailed eulogy from fellow artist W.Gunther le Maire.
Special exhibition of Detlef Willand's works in Immenstadt
A good introduction to looking at the works shown on the upper floor in the special exhibition area of the museum with the right eye.
Even those who have not previously dealt with the artist in detail can learn a lot about Detlef Willand's career beyond the known dates and about the character.
For example, he apparently had little enthusiasm for school at first and hoped to find fulfillment in the craft of wood carving.
But the depiction of “peasants with hooked noses and pointed hats and blissful-looking Madonnas,” as he was shown in his apprenticeship, could not satisfy him in the long term.
At the vernissage: Detlef Willand's family was also present at the opening of the special exhibition in the Hofmühle Museum with (from left) his widow “Hanne” and his daughters Susanne and Caroline Willand.
© Stefanie Goldfuss
A long journey followed in the truest sense.
A path literally up into the mountains.
Finally, to crown the passion for hiking, the route to Spain, to Santiago de Compostela.
The pilgrimage resulted in “the path”, a woodcut cycle that was to lay the foundation for Willand’s fame.
Suddenly he was no longer just a “local artist” but received recognition far beyond the narrow borders of the Kleinwalsertal.
Nevertheless, his homeland remained his inspiration and muse.
Like most artists, he longed for “the big thing”.
Or rather: he was hunting for her.
“The big thing”, the longing for something unnameable, incomprehensible, symbolized for him with a wink but also with a serious turn to the mythical: the unicorn, which appears again and again in his works.
So the artist is basically a unicorn hunter.
Nevertheless, both in the hearts and in the eyes of his family, he always remained down-to-earth and primarily a craftsman, a woodcutter.
Artist and local historian
In addition to art, he was also seen as a local researcher and amateur archaeologist.
A kind of homesickness - he always remained an immigrant in Kleinwalsertal - may have driven him to explore his country in order to understand it better.
So the path led him along winding paths to remote places, and by chance to a Stone Age find near the Gottesacker plateau, which became very well known and exposed the Walsertalers not only as mountain farmers, but also as hunters.
More information on this topic can be found in a lecture also in the Hofmühle Museum on Friday, March 22nd, at 7 p.m., “When the Walsers were still hunters” by Dr.
Caroline Posch.
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All of these aspects can be found in the loving selection of his works in this special exhibition in Immenstadt.
From unicorn cycles to biblical depictions to his last work, which he worked on until two days before his death in 2022.
Even the original wood print template is on display.
“Up here in the corner you can see that there are still a few finer lines missing.
But he couldn't finish it anymore.
“We still printed it for him after his death,” said daughter Susanne Willand about the impressive image in positive and negative.
The exhibition “Detlef Willand – a retrospective” can be seen until May 5th in the Hofmühle Museum, Immenstadt (opening times: Wednesday to Sunday, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.).
Stefanie Goldfuss