Guerino Paltenghi has never needed grand subjects. A flower in front of a window, bottles on a table, a snowy hillside, a sheep in a neighbouring field: in his paintings, familiar things are given a different weight.

That quality is at the heart of his latest exhibition at Galerie Paltenghi in Château-d’Oex. Now 91, Paltenghi continues to draw inspiration from the landscapes closest to him – the Pays-d’Enhaut and Purasca in Ticino, where he has a studio – as well as from the small objects and scenes of everyday life.

Writing about his work last year, Jacques Biolley described an artist who chooses “very humble subjects”

through which to approach the mystery of the living world. It is an apt description. Paltenghi’s paintings do not rely on spectacle or dramatic gesture. Their appeal lies instead in colour, atmosphere and observation – in the ability to find poetry in something we might otherwise barely notice.
There is a sincerity to the work that makes it immediately accessible. A landscape remains a landscape, a flower remains a flower, yet each has passed through Paltenghi’s particular way of seeing. Browns, ochres, greens and luminous touches of colour give the paintings warmth, while familiar motifs create an immediate connection with the viewer.

Seen together, the exhibition offers the chance to spend time with an artist whose work has been shaped over decades by close observation of the world around him. For anyone in Château-d’Oex this September – or looking for a reason to make the short journey from Gstaad – Galerie Paltenghi is well worth a visit. Step inside, look closely, and allow the paintings to do the rest.

Galerie Paltenghi

Open Wednesday to Saturday from 2–6 pm until 19 September.

Rte de la Ray 28, 1660 Château-d’Œx
T: +41 79 379 54 19 | E: galerie.p@bluewin.ch