Arts and wood carving in Ortsiei in Val Gardena

Arts

The traditional Gröden handicraft goes back to the 17th century, when because of financial reasons people started to carve simple devices for their daily use or toys.

With diligence, patience and skill it happened fairly quickly to perfect the technical know how, to little by little turn to creative work and to produce more and more qualitatively and artistically valuable pieces of work.

Wood carving

As previously mentioned, wood carving in Val Gardena started as a domestic initiative, out of the need to take one’s own initiative to repair, make toolds, resp. to produce jewellery and merchandise. Already in the 18th century there were approx. 40 wood carvers at work in Val Gardena, who made their works of art mainly out of swiss stone pine wood.

The establishment of the Graphic resp. Arts School in Ortisei had a further impact on the wood carving of Val Gardena.

Artists in Ortisei in Val Gardena

The artists in Val Gardena are equally specialised in sculpture, painting and illustration. Some of them should be introduced at this stage.

Wilhelm Senoner

Wilhelm Senoner comes from a family of versatile and recognised sculptors and painters. His father’s preferred object was the crucifix, according to the tradition of Gröden and popular motives.

In the years after his studies Wilhelm himself paid a lot of attention to the ascertainment of new forms, he experimentes with uncertain processes upheld by his doubts and curiosity, so that he can then devote himself to bold and bizarre solutions, which get lost in the spell of colours or in the expression, if no other feature indicates the motive.

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