Image: Galerie Milchhütte, Zumikon
Galerie Milchhütte in Zumikon will present Barbara Diethelm’s ‘Lob der Katze’ from 17 to 27 September 2026, bringing together works from an extensive cycle devoted to the cat as a visual subject. A vernissage is scheduled for Thursday, 17 September.
Diethelm’s drawings stem from years of observation, and the exhibition’s focus is firmly on the animal rather than the familiar decorative use of feline imagery. The gallery describes her cats as independent counterparts, defined through distinctive postures, gestures and moods. That attention to individual bearing gives the presentation its particular subject: the cat as a presence to be closely observed and sensitively portrayed.
On Sunday, 20 September, Diethelm will give a talk tracing what the gallery describes as the more than 5,000-year cultural history of the relationship between humans and cats. The event extends the exhibition beyond drawing into the longer cultural associations attached to the animal.
Werner Schmidt will read selected poems from ‘Tamangur – von Katzen und Sternen’, described as the artist couple’s joint homage to the cat. The reading is scheduled as part of the same 20 September programme.
The exhibition materials also list Diethelm’s charcoal-on-paper work ‘Katze’ (2008).
