Swiss Review 5/2019

Swiss Review / September 2019 / No.5 More than just a disc in the night sky The footprints were pristine. Not a single cloud ob- scured the bare, barren, rugged lunar horizon. When man first stepped on the moon 50 years ago, what viewers on Earth essentially saw was a massive, inert lump of rock in space. Yet, one giant leap did not ulti- mately change the way we view the moon. For centu- ries, our closest satellite has offered us a vaguely lu- minescent yet inscrutable, sombre nocturnal reflection of the human condition – as it still does today. This disc in the night sky also conveys some- thing miraculous, enigmatic and feminine. The Clair de lune exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Berne (Kunstmuseum Bern) shows how much humans have projected their aspirations onto the moon and how much the moon has fired our artistic imagination. Meticulously curated by Marianne Wackernagel, it features exhibits from the museum’s Collection of Prints and Drawings, with works dating from the 16 th century to the present day. (MUL) Claude Sandoz Mister Sun and Missis Moon, sun cover, 1973 Mixing gouache and glimmer on fabric and paper, 99 cm x 89 cm Markus Raetz Reflexion II, 1991 Heliogravure on vellum paper, 48.4 cm x 65.6 cm Meret Oppenheim Mondspiegelung in den Lagunen Reflection of the Moon in the lagoons), 1977 Oil chalk on grey paper 13 Clair de lune, Kunstmuseum Bern, until 20 October 2019. www.kunstmuseumbern.ch