Hans Conrad Escher Von Der Linth Panoramas

As a typical representative of the Enlightenment at the close of the 18th century, Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth (1767 – 1823) was one of the very last universal scholars of Switzerland. He was a statesman, scientist and teacher, merchant and master of channel construction. He goes down in history as the initiator of the Linth water works. His talent for drawing and watercolors, however, remained unrecognized until the 1970s: Between 1780 and 1822 Escher documented his geological research of Switzerland with over 1000 mountain scenes without ever contemplating any artistic intentions. He was one of the first to portray the Alps in large-scale panoramas measuring up to four meters in width. In anticipation of the works catalogue containing Escher’s graphical conceptions scheduled to appear in the autumn of 2002, the Glarus Art Museum is showing a selection of Glarus area scenes and panoramas belonging to this long-disregarded segment of his life work.