It is a peculiarity of Appenzell’s building culture that the houses are colourfully painted with oil paint, both inside and out. Vera Marke’s fascination with these oil-based paints led her to acquire a stately, listed house in Hundwil in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden at the beginning of 2020. Despite her thirty years of involvement with painting, she had little knowledge of the vernacular technique of painting until then. Over the past three years, she has researched the materiality of the house and restored it in collaboration with former DFA students and local craftsmen. In doing so, she transferred her knowledge and experience of panel painting to the architectural space.
The previous examination of the polychromy of the house and its various aspects such as binders, pigments and the layered structure of the paint application led to questions that go far beyond the specific house DORF10. Vera Marke asks herself what factors influence the polychromy in the ‘Appenzellerhaus’. Her reflections start with the painting material, the colour pigments. Which pigments were available and when? How do the schemical and physical properties of the pigments affect the workability of the oil paint? What spectrum of colour tones can be achieved from a pigment? What colour combinations were possible in different time periods?
Vera Marke is investigating these questions as part of the research project together with two Bachelor Fine Arts students, Otilia Joos and Anna Campani.
The theoretical part of the research involves interviewing experts and studying specialized literature. The historical painting technique with oil paint, which is rubbed on from pigments, was gradually replaced by industrially produced paint. Due to a lack of demand, knowledge of the historical oil paint technique is therefore disappearing. However, there are still remnants of pigments and binders to be found in many companies, and the senior owners still have practical and theoretical experience of the historical techniques. This knowledge, which is disappearing, will be recorded.
In the practical part, colour samples are collected from the painting companies. This collection forms the starting point for the research. Oil paint is rubbed together with the students, systematically mixed with white and applied to paper as a colour sample. This visualization of the found material and its chronological classification forms the basis for reflecting on the change in polychromy in Appenzell’s building culture from 1850 to 1950. This basic research compiles facts that provide valuable information for the preservation of historical monuments, architects and house owners in today’s practice of using colour paint.
The research project is located in the cultural area of the Appenzellerland and takes place in Haus Dorf10 in Hundwil. Work will begin in March 2024 and continue until the end of July 2024.
Link: https://www.veramarke.ch
Team: Otilia Joos, Anna Campani, Students, Bachelor Fine Arts, DFA
Cooperation: Painting companies from the region, Thurgau Monument Foundation, Colour producer, Colour trader
Location: House Dorf10, 9064 Hundwil