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WEY alois

[1894, Murg, Suisse — 1985, Saint-Gall, Suisse]

First in a family of seven children, Alois Wey was raised by his grandmother. After her death — he was nine years old — he joined his parents in St. Gallen. He left school at fourteen, first worked with his father as a roofer, then held several jobs: worker in the mines, porter, kitchen help in the cafe of the Zurich station. At seventy-seven years, he finally stopped working and went to live in a retirement home where he spent most of his time drawing, sometimes up to ten hours a day, always castles and churches, the details of which reflect the dedication of the craftsman striving to achieve a “fine piece of work.”