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Lydia Escher (1858-1891), daughter of the important politician and entrepreneur Alfred Escher, was married to Emil Welti, son of the Swiss Federal Council, doctor and childhood friend of Stauffer. The painting was painted in July 1886 (see inv. 571 and inv. 1285); Stauffer took it to Berlin and tried to add an oleander, among other things.
Lydia Welti-Escher. Lydia Welti-Escher, (née Lydia Escher, 10 July 1858 in Zürich-Enge – 12 December 1891 in Genève-Champel) was a Swiss patron of the arts and the daughter of Augusta Escher-Uebel (1838–1864) and Alfred Escher. Lydia Escher was one of the richest women of Switzerland of the 19th century, patron of the arts and ...
- Life
- Selected Portraits
- Gottfried Keller Foundation
- Aftermath and Monuments
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Origins and family
Lydia Escher was born into the Escher vom Glas family, an old and influential Zürich family dynasty. She was the daughter of Augusta Escher-Uebel (1838–1864) and Alfred Escher (1819–1882), who, among many other business interests, was one of the founders of the Gotthardbahn. A scandal surrounding Alfred Escher's immediate forebears had, however, damaged her family line's reputation. Hans Caspar Escher-Werdmüller (1731–1781) had fathered a child out of wedlock with a maidservant in 1765 and em...
Childhood and youth
Lydia Escher's grandfather Heinrich Escher had built the country house Belvoir on the left shore of Zürichsee in the then village of Enge, as of today a district of the city of Zürich, where Lydia grew up and lived. Heinrich Escher was able to devote himself fully to his passion for botany and his entomologicalcollection, that also was cared for by her father, and by Lydia. At the age of four years, Lydia lost her younger sister, and Lydia's mother died in 1864. So that Alfred Escher was able...
Marriage with Friedrich Emil Welti
Because the relationship between Alfred Escher and his former protege Emil Welti had deteriorated before, Escher was against Lydia's engagement with Welti's son Friedrich Emil. Since the engagement had already been published, Lydia married after her father's death on 4 January 1883. Friedrich Emil Welti was the son of the Swiss Federal Councillor (Bundesrat) Emil Welti, one of the then most powerful people in Switzerland, and former companion and later opponent of Lydia's father. Welti rose i...
Lydia's Mother Augusta Escher (around 1850)Lydia Welti-Escher, portrait by Karl Stauffer-Bern (date unknown)Friedrich Emil Welti, photograph (artist and date unknown)In 1890, shortly before the end of her tragic life, Lydia Escher invested the Escher family's fortune in a foundation, which she called the Gottfried Keller-Stiftung (GKS), named after Gottfried Keller to whom her father gave consistent support. With her remaining substantial asset – Villa Belvoir and marketable securities totaling nominally 4 mill...
The Gottfried Keller foundation, as of today is based in Winterthur, and it is listed as a Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance. Lydia Escher is considered an outstanding woman of the Belle Époque in Switzerland, she blew up close social and moral standards of existence by their liaison with an artist, to which...
2014: Die letzten Stunden der Lydia Welti-Escher. Play after Christine Ahlborn.2013: Die Schweizer: Kampf um den Gotthard – Alfred Escher und Stefano Franscini. Television documentary play produced by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen(SRF)Willi Wottreng: Lydia Welti-Escher. Eine Frau in der Belle Epoque. Elster-Verlag, Zürich 2014, ISBN 978-3-906065-22-9.Joseph Jung: Lydia Welti-Escher (1858–1891). Mit einer Einführung von Hildegard Elisabeth Keller. NZZ Libro, Zürich 2013, ISBN 978-3-03823-852-2.Joseph Jung: Lydia Welti-Escher (1858–1891). Biographie. Quellen, Materialien und Beiträge. NZZ Libro, Zürich 2009, ISBN 978-3-03823-557-6.Willi Wottreng: Die Millionärin und der Maler: Die Tragödie Lydia Welti-Escher und Karl Stauffer-Bern. Orell Füssli, Zürich 2008, ISBN 978-3-280-06049-0.Anna Katharina Bähler: Welti [-Escher], Lydia in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 11 October 2013.Literature by and about Lydia Welti-Escher in the German National LibrarycatalogueGottfried Keller Stiftung, Bundesamt für Kultur (in German)Find the perfect lydia welti escher stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Available for both RF and RM licensing.
Download this stock image: Portrait of Lydia Welti-Escher, Karl Stauffer-Bern, 1886,Zurich Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland, Europe - R03W9Y from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.
Lydia Escher (1858–1891), being a prominent Zürich patron of the arts, was honored by the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster association on the occasion of her 150th anniversary by a commemorative plaque, located at the front of the building. The place was baptized on 20 August 2008 by the city of Zürich as Lydia Welti-Escher Hof. Collection
Lydia Welti-Escher. primary name:Welti-Escher, Lydia. Details. individual; Swiss; Male. Life dates. -1891. Biography. Daughter of the 'Eisenbahnkönig' ('king of railwys') Alfred Escher and wife of the son of the Bundesrat Emil Welti; embarked on a passionate affair with the painter and etcher Stauffer-Bern (q.v.).
