The Roundhouse of International Spirits

By the early 1960s a remarkable group of artists had settled in the Ticino area of Italy. Hans Arp and Hans Richter returned, having first visited in the 1910s. Julius Bissier, Italo Valenti, Ben Nicholson and Felicitas Vogler arrived in search of better living conditions and new inspiration. The American painter Mark Tobey, based in Basel and a friend of many of these artists, regularly visited. The Locarnese, as it is known locally, became a thriving intellectual hotspot, with a strong sense of community. These artists shared ideas and swapped works and the period produced rich results.