HEIDI WEBER, LE CORBUSIER’S GREAT PATRON
Anyone who is interested in art and culture manages to
fit in a visit to the « Centre Le Corbusier » as part of a trip to
For one thing you won’t be doing justice to the personality of the artist, Le Corbusier, and for another you won’t have found out that the person to whom we owe this synthesis between the work of art itself and the fostering of the artist’s posthumous fame is Heidi Weber.
The description of “patron” comes to mind, but fails to capture the essence of this woman’s life’s work, for by the time she came to know him Le Corbusier was already 70 years old and had developed a fully mature personality as artist.
It is a commonly held belief today that women tend to remain behind the scenes in the lives of great artists. It is only in more recent times that people have come to understand that women can excel at arts, even of commercialised art, as is evidenced by the example of Jeanne-Claude Christo. However, such an agenda which declares public spectacle to be art can certainly not be attributed to the activities of Heidi Weber. For art which goes beyond the experimental is more than just a commodity for mass consumption. This kind of cerebral art, as seen in the work of Le Corbusier, presumes rigorous critical analysis on the part of the viewer and relies on a suitable avenue of communication between artist and viewer. The richer the store of ideas and forms used by the artist, the more complicated is the corresponding process of discovery and communication.
But since when have women featured as anything other
than owners of private hobby galleries or independent art agents? This is, among
other things, a socio-political question. We must really look to the beginning
of this century for our answer. The first woman to function as an art “agent”
on a national level in
Although it is true that Maja Sacher did found the Emmanuel
Hoffmann Foundation in 1933, it was not until 1980 that she was in apposition
to open up the
Heidi Weber’s situation was completely different. She had neither a substantial investment capital to work with, nor an existing art collection. Despite this, with her life’s work she founded a tradition which is a milestone of private art patronage in European art history.
Her work with Le Corbusier, a collaboration which was
to last only seven years, began when she approached him in 1958 on the Côte
d’Azur to seek his permission to commence series production of the furniture
he had designed in 1929 and to market them. The deeply-felt impact on her of
the intellectual conception of the design was reflected in the spontaneous decision
to make the trip. Overjoyed she returned from
This feeling was proven correct. Heidi Weber soon built up a profitable business. She also held regular exhibitions of his prints, paintings, sculptures and tapestries in her own gallery. Gradually she won Le Corbusier’s confidence. He was amazed to see that, of all people, a woman, and at that a Swiss woman (he had anything but a favourable view of his compatriots), had managed to achieve success with his works.
Anyone familiar with Heidi Weber would be aware that she was always setting herself new goals. For her it was inconceivable that this internationally renowned architect was not widely known for his graphics, paintings and sculptures. Fascinated by Le Corbusier’s work and the distinctive intellectuality emanating from him, she wanted to become his protagonist. Her infectious enthusiasm and her unwavering conviction of the uniqueness of his paintings was something he could scarcely resist, and so there soon developed between the two a fruitful partnership based on mutual respect.
Heidi Weber’s keen intellect, an intellect that virtually devoured Le Corbusier’s every word, was further honed in the course of numerous conversations, as indeed was her well developed artistic sense of intellectual power of his art and the complexity of his thinking.
Like the great geniuses of the Renaissance, Le Corbusier combined the mastery of both three-dimensional creation, namely the creation of structures and spaces, of furniture and sculptures, and the mastery of two-dimensional space as expressed in his paintings and prints. Heidi Weber learned to speak his language. So it was that she succeeded in overcoming his aversion to publishing his lithographic work and freed him of his doubts regarding his own work. Because for many years there had been precious littlie interest in his prints, Le Corbusier himself had come to believe that they were not worthy of publication. Once again it was Heidi Weber who managed to convince him of the necessity of having a proper distribution basis from which to make his work available to the public.
It was she also who founded a publishing house for graphic editions, primarily for the purpose of making it possible for a young audience original prints by Le Corbusier.
It is a wonderful testament to her artistic sense that
Le Corbusier responded to her encouragement and began making colour lithographs.
He suddenly discovered that these works were a source ot great delight for him
and within a short period, at the beginning of the 1960s, he created the major
part of his graphic oeuvre (catalogued in the special issue of Edition H.W.,
Heidi Weber had long been considering something new. The intensity of her involvement in selling and promoting art demanded anew concept on a large scale with the widest possible range and appeal. A ”Complete Work of Le Corbusier”, a museum designed by the artist himself, seemed to her justified.
In 1964 this woman, in no wise an expert in the area, took charge of this exhibition pavilion, including all responsibilities, from construction to the financing side which would ultimately take her to the brink of financial ruin.
This she did on her own, independently and with great discipline. Le Corbusier’s sudden death by accident in August 1965 placed the entire project in jeopardy. Without him how could she possibly do justice to the refinement in technical detail which he required? At first this problem seemed insurmountable. Le Corbusier had certainly not left anything that could be described as final plans ready for implementation. From the time when planning for the project began in 1960 up until his death, he was constantly to complete changes of materials. He would come up with absolutely unbelievable solutions to individual problems, continually creating new problems for all those involved in construction. It seemed that, after initially being rather hesitant about this task, Le Corbusier now wanted to prove to himself, Switzerland, the world and to the phenomenally unshakeable and steadfast Heidi Weber just what he, a man in his late seventies, was still capable of, namely bringing together the sum total of his creative and scientific expertise in a building design without precedent. Man, the measure of all thins, forms the primordial cell within this personified universe, the “Centre Le Corbusier”.
Building and architectural history set a precedent for
European cultural history. In 1967 Heidi Weber was able to open her museum in
one of the most attractive locations on
This experience is no longer an issue for Heidi Weber.
She surpassed herself in the test of strength that this
Heidi Weber sees Picasso and Le Corbusier as the two great diametrically opposed poles of this century. While the former was characterised by a cheerful, vibrant Southern temperament, the latter was serious, introverted, a philosopher among the artists, striving for a scientific understanding of the phenomena around him.
What to Picasso represented the tension of a line, something he was often able to breathe life into in a most beguiling way, was to Le Corbusier something to be transformed into a diverse dynamic of polarised forms. For him, three-dimensional shapes and two-dimensional surfaces are in constant conflict, but always manage to produce as the sum of their fragmented parts a magnificent whole. He introduced new topics and elements of composition to contemporary art which can stand up beside the experience of abstract form offered by a Kandinsky as easily as beside the triumphant colour effects of the Expressionists. The world of Le Corbusier’s images grows out of social reality and the power of artistic creation of his contemporaries, the great revolutionaries of art. Le Corbusier’s oeuvre represents a true synthesis of the power of the 20th century painter and designer. All of Heidi Weber’s efforts over the past four decades have been dedicated to the recognition of these relationships. This holds true for her many exhibitions, publications, foundations and gifts as well as her international contacts. True to Le Corbusier’s legacy, Heidi Weber’s desire to spread the message to all continents that Le Corbusier is part of the world’s cultural heritage.
Dr. Antje Ziehr