We have been following the Jenisch Museum in Vevey for some time now and were really delighted when we were asked if we might like to participate in their family event on 2nd November.
The Jenisch museum is the second largest art museum in Vaud and they were participating in the « week-end en famille au musée" initiative in the region by organizing workshops and pop-ups over the weekend. We decided to stop by on Saturday and take part in their linogravure (lino printing) workshop, principally with Jude and I participating.
This was wonderfully organized by Charlotte who runs their cultural events and Sandra Baud who is a local artist specializing in lino printing. The workshop began with a short visit to an exhibition in the museum which focused on stamp printing (indeed it is the home of the cantonal print collection!) so that we could get some inspiration and learn a bit more about the technique which we discovered is an interesting process and fascinating in its variety.
Next we were invited to choose an aspect of one of the paintings we had seen and use it as inspiration for our own design which we would then turn into a stamp ourselves. In our case the appointed artist was Jean, and Jude said he would like a drawing of a lion which he had seen in one of the paintings, so Jean set about putting pencil to paper. That done (well done Jean!) we went back to our work space and got started on our stamps. Jude did a really super job of retracing the lines of the lion in a darker, softer pencil which we then transferred to the lino by placing the drawing face down on the lino surface and giving it a rub until we had a clear outline of our magnificent lion. Jude was impatient about the next part although he needed a bit of help to use the gouging tool but he soon got the hang of it and the carved features of our lion began to emerge.
Jude's favourite part was clearly the actual printing process and he used up all the available sheets of paper making prints for each of us, plus the grandparents and another for his school communication booklet!! He was so pleased with the results and it was a real joy to watch him taking such an interest in learning a new skill. He confessed later that he hadn’t been too sure that he would enjoy it at the beginning but had been surprised at what a great time he had had.
While we waited for the prints to dry we went off to explore the rest of the museum which is housed in a really beautiful building. The works are largely prints and drawings and they are currently displaying a collection of the works of Gustave Courbet which was really fascinating to see. The children enjoyed pointing out the pictures that the liked as well as those they didn’t and it was interesting to see their reactions - especially when Alba froze in terror in front of a Picasso and refused to move! We aren’t very well educated on the subject of art but we do love visiting museums and comparing our humble opinions about the things we discover.
The museum organize lots of workshops so it's worth keeping an eye on their website. I saw they have one called Venez dessiner au Musée on 24th November and another called Venez écrire au Musée on 5th December which both sound interesting as well as Christmas events. They also have a bright cafe area and a lovely shop where you can pick up some great books, puzzles and games which would make perfect Christmas presents. I think they even have a little lino printing kit!
It's well worth a visit when you are in Vevey. A great combination of fascinating works of art, knowledgeable and friendly staff and beautiful surroundings. Just perfect!
Information
Parking : No
Toilets : Yes
Accessibility : fully accessible to visitors with reduced mobility and to pushchairs.
Price
Adults CHF 12
Senior citizens CHF 10
Children and young people
up to age 18 free of charge
Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday
11 am to 6 pm.
Thursdays until 8 pm.
Closed on Mondays
תגובות