Peter Birkhäuser

The son of an oculist, Birkhäuser was born and raised in Basel. His mother died early and he was brought up by his father in a rationalistic, agnostic environment. He wanted to be a painter from an early age, and left grammar school to study at an art school under Basel artist Niklaus Stoecklin.
In his early career as an artist, he produced still-life and landscape paintings, ex libris plates, stamps, cartoons for the satirical magazine Nebelspalter, posters, and portraits. He met his future wife Sibylle Oeri in the early 30s, and they married in 1939.
One evening, while working in his studio, he was struck by the image of a moth fluttering against the window. He painted this image in 1944, and later interpreted it as symbolic of his own state of mind: the moth, representing his soul, was struggling against the glass to reach the light, representing consciousness. This image precipitated a crisis in his career, resulting in a period of stagnation and depression.
During this period, he encountered works of C.G. Jung, and began to analyze his dreams. He and his wife entered Jungian analysis with Marie-Louise von Franz. Over the next 35 years, he collected and worked on over 3,400 of his dreams, discussing them with von Franz and corresponding with Jung himself.
As he interpreted them, his dreams often reflected images of himself as stultified by artistic tradition, and urged him to break with his previous stylistic constraints. In 1956, he achieved an artistic breakthrough with his painting The World's Wound, the first of a long series of works painted directly from unconscious dream images.
His new works were not well received by the Swiss art community, and it took several years before they would achieve sufficient recognition to provide Birkhäuser and his wife with a satisfactory income. Most of the initial support for his new work came from a younger audience, largely based in the U.S.
In 1971, his wife of 32 years died, and he developed a serious lung complaint. Nevertheless, he produced a number of his most significant paintings in the last five years of his life.
Birkhäuser died in Binningen in 1976.
In 1980, a selection of his later works was published in the book Light from the Darkness: The Paintings of Peter Birkhäuser, edited and introduced by his daughter and son, Eva Wertanschlag and Kaspar Birkhäuser, with commentary on the paintings by Marie-Louise von Franz. In addition to his paintings, the book also includes a 1970 lecture by Birkhäuser titled "Analytical Psychology and the Problems of Art."
I experience a power within myself which is not the same as my conscious ego. It has forced me to adopt a path quite foreign to my conscious attitude, a path which totally contradicted my will and everything I considered important. Before I was able to obey this power, I first needed to be crushed and almost destroyed. I often felt it was a pity this process had taken so long, but now, looking back over thousands of dreams and the sacrifices of a long, hard development, I can see how valuable the experience has been.
- in conversation with Dean Franz, ca. 1975
[from Wikipedia]
Music: Alio Die "Underwater Fields"

[@susanne5803]

He must have been a tormented soul. Yes, there is light - but the struggle against darkness is immense. Very few pictures remind me a tiny bit of Chagall (rider, golden and white fish for example). The music is a perfect fit. Thank you for this introduction!

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you very much for watching!

[@havoc6441]

I was thinking the same. There’s a lot of pain and struggle in his visualization.

[@liltick102]

Indeed he was, at least- these are from his dreams

[@hear-and-know]

I had never seen such colors in painting, very beautiful, a bit "spectral". I remember the book Man and His Symbols had some of these paintings included. Thanks for sharing!

[@DistantMirrors]

I agree, the colors are very unique. Thank you for watching!

[@doorwaytothepaintings.3787]

Very unique and interesting art. The music is also a really good match.

[@jeniskindof]

Love when you upload

[@TheBigFatVladimir]

I greatly appreciate the time you put into the descriptions!

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you!

[@polyxenikoutla134]

The music..such an excellent choice!

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you!

[@thesecorridorsoftime]

Thank you ❤

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you for watching!

[@bc7138]

Eerie and surreal, very dreamlike in a way. I can't help but think I may have seen at least one or two of these paintings before but I'm not sure in what context. Specifically the spectral floating head of the old man in a hood. Thanks for the video.

[@RecordsoftheDeepFolk]

I'm not a very cultured nor smart person. But I really appreciate these videos you make. They always help me relax and think. ^w^

[@DistantMirrors]

Happy to hear you like the videos! Thank you for watching!

[@Brianna-eo8nu]

The music you choose for these videos is always so beautiful and ethereal. Which music artists I’ve used in these videos are your favourites?

[@DistantMirrors]

Happy to hear that you like the music Brianna. Some of my favourites are Alio Die, Robert Rich, Steve Roach, William Basinski and Thomas Newman.

[@zinyuzhiri3146]

La ambientación siempre es buena, buen video Distant.

[@divinesaifsaif2993]

Welcome back ☄ Great channel ☇ And perfect music 🎶 Amazing art thank u ❣

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you very much for watching!

[@bellezavudd]

Thanks for sharing an artist ive never heard of. Saw his images in a Jung book long ago but the quality was so poor it left no impression to find out more about it. As an artist myself its always so fascinating reading the comments to hear how much experiencing art is a 2 step process. A person sees the painting created by the artist and then that same viewer inserts a part of themselves into the image. Ii wonder if its even possible to not project oneself on to what we experience.

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you for watching! It's really interesting to go through the comments and read people's thoughts. I can't speak for anyone apart from myself but I tend to interpret a painting through my experiences. The way I feel the moment I'm looking at a painting can have a strong influence on my interpretation. It's not always the case of course, but it happens quite often.

[@itzel6698]

OOooh a new @ntMirrors upload :D

[@ataranaoahakaraaf3786]

VERY IMPRESSIVE WHERE DREAMLIKE-WORLDS IN HIS TOTALITY OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS COME TO LIFE OF HIS OWN UNIQUE GREAT SPECTRAL-MIND FULL OF SOULWANDERINGJOURNEY,S IN HIS OWN DREAMS ETC, HIS HAS DEPICTED SO BRIGHTLY FULL OF MEANING AND PURPOSE WITH BRILLIANT ARTISTIC QUALITY I CAN ADMIRED,HIS VERSION OF THE MAGIC-REALISM ANS SURREALISM.

[@liltick102]

Love Birkhauser & Jung

[@youpo1]

Just wow

[@icarias9602]

¡Gran canal! ¡Todos los temas están ¹bakanes! ²¡La raja! Aprecio mucho el arte en todas o muchas expresiones. Estas pinturas que están aquí debo admitir que conocía poquísimas, pero eso sí, he visto y leído pinacotecas y a través de fotografías en revistas, televisión, etc, he visto muchas pinturas. Muy buena la música, ¡Qué ambientación! 👌🏻 Para mí que soy instrospectivo y observador, ¡oooh, tremendo!... Ésta, con lo que crea /en su estilo/ Harold Budd, Brian Enno y otros tengo para soñar hasta la eternidad. ¡Genial! Desde Chile 🇨🇱, un saludo Try to translate. ¹, ²= Chilean slang.

[@joseluisoyarzun2396]

Hola soy chileno y tienes razon un canal con perfecta combinacion arte y musica te hace viajar a lugares poco visitados de tu mente

[@icarias9602]

@@joseluisoyarzun2396 Cierto.

[@yoamarteypulsion]

Misterio❣

[@isaacpaul4441]

1:48 a grasshopper with wings?

[@pineddonudda8740]

Will you do Alfred Kubin? Thank you for this channel!

[@DistantMirrors]

Yes, probably in the near future. Thank you for watching!

[@Heronjim]

Victor Brauner please!

[@DistantMirrors]

Thank you for the suggestion!

[@Heronjim]

@@DistantMirrors ❤

[@bigpigeon2384]

Not entirely sure what this is but it’s probably good

[@DistantMirrors]

It's a video showcasing artworks of Peter Birkhäuser.

[@colinsmith1288]

These images are quite menacing. All the imagery seems trapped in some form of purgatory or trying too escape. There is real ugliness of almost emotional self reflection.

[@averagecarpentryskills7148]

I don't believe him. I don't believe these are actually from his dreams. He just said that to make them seem more "deep" and interesting. He thought these up. They are visionary and interesting still though. His ties to Jung also make me think they are intentional not random dream symbolism.

[@colinsmith1288]

I agree. You would have too be very disturbed to have dreams of images like these.

[@owenlow3111]

To me, I think he just expressed what he felt in those dreams and tries to realize it in his own art form

[@averagecarpentryskills7148]

@@owenlow3111 that makes sense.

[@agamarina9850]

:O

[@Dapper_Caddaver]

How people understands these paintings?

[@thesecorridorsoftime]

you have to feel them...

[@Dapper_Caddaver]

@@thesecorridorsoftime how? Every body has their own feelings . Which one is more important ? the artist's feelings or us ?

[@hear-and-know]

Take a look at the colors and shapes, light and shadow... What do they speak to you?

[@Dapper_Caddaver]

@@hear-and-know some of them reminds me my childhood, but i cant find any meaning at most of them

[@jmpsthrufyre]

I FWI

[@allancunningham2670]

░p░r░o░m░o░s░m░ 💘

[@KeyBrute]

Not sure how this got to my recommended. Maybe William Basinski and Codex Seraphinianus. Prob Scorn from ebb software