Savour International

Although it is possible to see a wealth of artistic portrayals of Swiss moun-tains around the world, it has so far not been so easy to find similar views of the Bernese Oberland -particularly the area around Gstaad, with the very special beauty of its natural surround-ings. The situation has now changed, however: spurred by Karl-Friedrich Scheufeie, co-president of Chopard, acclaimed art dealer and gallery owner Irene Schönholzer brought Swiss pho-tographer Michel Comte to Gstaad.

Famous around the world for his por-traits and fashion photography, Comte now shows new facets of his creative skill in his modern interpretations of the mountain landscapes. His spectacu-lar pictures are being shown to the public for the first time at an exclusive exhibition at the Galerie Lovers of Fine Art in Gstaad.

Galerie Lovers of fine art

Zurich·born art dealer Irene Schönholzer has long been an institu-tion in Gstaad with her Galerie Lovers of Fine Art and her passion for classic modern and contemporary art. Pablo Picasso, Sam Francis, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol-the list could be extended vir-tually at will: thanks to her excellent network, she has been track ing down works of art for her international clientele for almost 20 years. Anyone who knows the profound commitment which she brings to art will hardly be surprised that on her own initiative and with the support of Chopard she was the moving force behind a very special artistic project that recently celebrated its world premiere. It was art lover Karl·Friedrich Scheufeie who got the ball rolling. His family has owned a holiday chalet in the Gstaad area for decades. "My family and I have a fascination with the imposing natural beauties of the Saanenland that has grown steadily over the years," explains the co-president of Chopard. During this time, he has also come to admire the repertoire of the gallery and the expertise of proprietor Irene Schönholzer. The search for top·qualiry mountain pictures of the Bernese alpine world that he asked her to undertake also proved unproductive for the art expert herself. Something that with hindsight actually turned out to be a stroke of luck, since it led to a joint artistic mission, for wh ich lrene Schön holzer lured lead-ing Swiss photographer Michel Comte to Gstaad to capture the flair and magie of the local scenery wirh his camera.

COMMITMENT. DEDICATION AND LOGISTICS

Michel Comte has become world-famous for his portraits and fashion photography - there are very few celebrities from the realms of movies, sport and politics who have not yet looked imo his lens. The fact that one of his own great passions is nature - and the Swiss mountains in particular - is not so weil known. So the gallery owner whetted his curiosiry umil his fascination compelled hirn to accept an assignment du ring which he was not onIy to phorograph the mountains but also to discover hirnself anew. Everyone concerned put a great deal of commitment and unstinting dedication into realising the venture, wh ich in the end became a huge challenge, particularly in view of the logistic issues involved. Experienced Gstaad mountain guide Ueli Hauswinh, who knows the area as in timately as his own horne, rook Comte to places that few eyes have had the chance to see. Spots that were inaccessible on foot were f10wn to by helicopter. And in order to cap ture the most unusual and exclting vistas, insights and moods, Michel Comte was out and about at all hours of the day and night - sometimes in far from easy conditions.

The seasoned phorographer found the experience of having to be roped up during same of the more adventurous shoots an extremely unusual experience. "I constantly travel to work in some of the most diverse areas of the world, but the foeus then is almost always on people and their stories. Photographing for this project here in the mountains of my native land was an excitingly different and very special experience for me. Probably because it brought me inta emotional contact with my own past again: I sperrt a lot of my ehildhood and adolescence in the Bernese Alps and went on countless hikes through the mountains there. This left a deep impression on me and fuelled my dose personal1inks with this region. So working on these pictures was deeply moving for me," explains Michel Comte.