Karl Walser

The recorded working language is German. The field of work recorded is visual arts and book design. Places of work recorded in the authority are Netherlands and Delft. Work by Karl Walser is recorded in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Wallraf–Richartz Museum, Kunsthaus Zürich and Huis van het boek.

• Born — April 8, 1877 • Birthplace — Teufen, Switzerland • Died — September 28, 1943 • Birth Name — Karl Edmund Walser • Place of death — Bern, Switzerland • Resting Place — Schosshalden Cemetery, Bern, Switzerland • Spouse — Hedwig Agnes Czarnetzki Walser (m. 1910)

Karl Walser was born in Teufen, on April 8, 1877, to Adolf Walser and Elisa Marti Walser who had 7 children. He grew up in Biel. He completed an apprenticeship as a decorative artist in Strasbourg and Stuttgart. Most of Walser's earlier works were lost during World War II. Between 1899 and 1914 he lived in Berlin and became a board member of the Berlin Secession (1903) and later a member of the Deutsche Künstlerbund (German Artists’ Association). While in Berlin, he worked as an illustrator for the publisher Bruno Cassirer and designed the majority of his book illustrations. He also completed murals for the private residences of renowned figures. In addition to several study trips to Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Japan, Karl Walser produced stage sets for opera and theatre from 1903. He also received commissions for book cover designs and book illustrations. In 1910 he married Hedwig Agnes Czarnetzki Walser (1885-1987). He returned to Switzerland in 1917 and mainly worked on the painterly decoration of public spaces, such as the Amtshaus in Zurich, the Stadttheater in Bern and the Grossratssaal at Bern City Hall. He died in Bern, on September 28, 1943. He was buried at the Schosshalden Cemetery in Bern.

• Walser's painting of Robert dressed as a Schiller character was used for the 2000 English language release of The Robber published by the University of Nebraska Press. • His illustrations were also used for the cover art several modern English-language publications of Robert's work, including the New York Review Books versions of Jakob von Gunten, A Schoolboy's Diary, and Girlfriends, Ghosts, and Other Stories.