Richard Paul Lohse

Richard Paul Lohse (Zurich, 1902–1988) was a Swiss painter, graphic designer, and theorist whose work stands as one of the most rigorous and sustained contributions to concretism and constructive-concrete art in the twentieth century. Working from Zurich across a career that spanned several decades, Lohse developed a practice grounded in serial and modular systems, in which color and geometric structure operate according to internally consistent, rule-based logic. Critics and scholars have long interpreted this approach as carrying an ethical as well as aesthetic dimension — the kulturzüri editorial "Das demokratische Prinzip in der Kunst," published in 2026, read his compositional method as an embodiment of democratic principles, while Die Zeit's "Richard Paul Lohse: So malt man den Beat" situated his geometric work within a broader political and aesthetic context. A catalogue raisonné of his prints documents 172 original prints and multiples made between 1941 and 1986, attesting to the breadth and discipline of his output across media.

Lohse's exhibition history reaches from early group presentations — including the 1943 design exhibition Arbeit und Brot at Mustermesse Basel and the 1958 survey Ungegenständliche Malerei in der Schweiz at Kunstmuseum Winterthur — through landmark solo showings at Kunsthaus Zürich in 1962 and Kunsthalle Bern in 1970. His work Drei horizontale Teilungen (1949/72) became the first acquisition of the Josef Albers Museum Quadrat in Bottrop, anchoring that institution's collection context beyond its founding figure. His prints were shown at Galerie Média in 1976, and Galerie Renée Ziegler in Zurich presented his Vertikalen portfolio as early as 1970. Historically, Galerie Denise René in Paris provided an important platform for his international profile, while Galerie Ziegler SA in Zurich has maintained a close relationship with the Richard Paul Lohse-Stiftung, the active foundation that stewards his legacy. Works by Lohse are held in the collections of Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, among others.

In recent years, Lohse's work has attracted renewed and substantial critical attention. A major retrospective opened at MASI Lugano in September 2025, presenting more than fifty works in collaboration with the Richard Paul Lohse-Stiftung, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, the Josef Albers Museum Quadrat, and the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, accompanied by a scholarly catalogue published by Hatje Cantz. Hauser & Wirth in Basel presented paintings and works on paper spanning the 1950s through the 1980s in 2025, and Museum Haus Konstruktiv mounted a solo exhibition of over fifty works in 2026. That same year, a solo exhibition opened at the Josef Albers Museum Quadrat in Bottrop, reviewed in the Brooklyn Rail's Artseen column, and Lohse was included in Lumina. The Art of Color and Light at Centre Pompidou in Paris, running into 2027. The Sammlung Marli Hoppe-Ritter also holds works by Lohse, reflecting the breadth of his presence in significant private and institutional collections across Europe.