Claire Bretécher (1940–2020) created some of the most memorable characters in European comics, be they women lounging on sofas, or the non-conformist teenager Agrippine. In series such as ‘Les Frustrés’ and ‘Agrippine’, this French comics author became an important chronicler of social change. With a keen eye and subtle irony, she made emancipation, feminism, love, family life, political circles and everyday contradictions the subjects of her work. Hardly any other artist has captured the hopes, insecurities and self-deceptions of their generation so precisely and soberingly.

With her expressive style and pared-down visual language, she condensed entire lifeworlds into just a few lines. From the cynical Agrippine and self-absorbed intellectuals to the left-wing bourgeois in ‘Les Frustrés’, Bretécher’s characters have nothing heroic about them. Instead, they are neurotic, contradictory and often not particularly likeable.

Before Bretécher became known to a wider audience through ‘Les Frustrés’, she was one of the few women to work for the magazines ‘Tintin’, ‘Spirou’ and ‘Pilote’. There, she overturned the conventions of a medium dominated by male heroes and created Cellulite, one of the first nonconformist female characters in the history of European comics. In 1972, together with Marcel Gotlib and Nikita Mandryka, she co-founded the magazine ‘L’Écho des Savanes’, which played a key role in establishing auteur comics.

This major retrospective presents original drawings from all phases of her career, ranging from early works and classics, through to illustrations and painterly works. Recent pieces by students from universities of applied sciences in Lucerne, Strasbourg and Geneva supplement the exhibition.

Press conference: 18/3/2027, 11 am
Vernissage: 19/3/2027, 6:30 pm
Curator: Anette Gehrig