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Bernhard Fuchs
Höfe
HC, 25 x 25 cm., 100 pp.
König 2011

"Time and again on walks in the area around Helfenberg I have been confronted with the continuous changes happening to the small farms there. Remotely located in the hilly landscape of the Mühlviertel, these are mainly mixed-farming operations, something that is reflected in the architecture of the buildings and the forms of the adjacent plots. The climate is bleak, the soils rather meagre. Arable fields, woodland and grassland for the grazing of livestock, mostly dairy cows, are characteristic of the area. Most of the farms are run as secondary sources of income and are passed down from generation to generation. However, structural changes have also taken their toll here: new laws require that stalls and keeping conditions be reorganised, the cost of necessary investment is rising and farmers often struggle to find successors to take over their farms. As such, many of these small farms have been abandoned in recent times."

"'Höfe' ist der Titel einer Serie von 48 Landschaftsaufnahmen, die hier auf ganzseitigen Tafeln abgebildet werden. Sie entstanden auf Fuchs' Wegen durch die Gegend um Helfenberg, bei denen der Künstler immer wieder auf die anhaltenden Veränderungen an den kleinbäuerlichen Betrieben stieß. Die Bauernhöfe liegen zersiedelt in der hügeligen Landschaft des Mühlviertels und werden großteils als Mischwirtschaften betrieben, das Klima ist rau, der Boden karg. Die Höfe von Generation zu Generation weitervererbt. Der Strukturwandel fordert aber auch hier seinen Preis."

 


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