Clavaria aurea Schff. (1915-1945)

Hans Walty prints bring the woodland world of mushrooms into your home: red fly agarics, golden chanterelles, morels, boletes and russulas, painted from life with a naturalist's care. Walty was a Swiss painter, drawing teacher and amateur mycologist whose watercolours became the standard mushroom guide in Switzerland for decades. Our collection of fine art prints includes hundreds of his mushroom plates.

About Hans Walty

Emanuel Johann Anton Walty, known as Hans E. Walty, was born on 24 October 1868 in Gravellona Toce in Piedmont, Italy, where he lived until he was ten. His family then moved to Lenzburg in Switzerland, and he went to school there and in Aarau before studying at the School of Applied Arts in Basel.

From 1888 he worked for a firm of decorative painters in Leipzig, painting churches, villas and public buildings; his work includes paintings in the entrance hall of the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. In 1893 he married Margarete Schulz of Leipzig and became a teacher at the Zurich School of Applied Arts. Around 1900 he studied the human figure at the Dresden Academy, spent time in Rome, and worked again in Leipzig as a church painter.

He returned to Lenzburg after the First World War and taught drawing at the local secondary school from 1921 until illness forced him to stop. Mushrooms were his hobby and his passion: from about 1913 to 1944 he painted hundreds of them, and the Swiss mycological association published them as the Schweizer Pilztafeln from 1942. He died in January 1948, and his archive went to the Swiss National Library.

Style and Subjects

Walty painted each mushroom from a real specimen, often showing it from several angles: cap from above, the gills or pores underneath, a cut section and young and old stages together. His watercolour is precise and lively, catching the sheen of a wet cap, the texture of a stem and the colour change of a bruised bolete.

Each sheet records the German and Latin names, the date of the find and whether the mushroom was edible, inedible, suspect, poisonous or deadly. The result is both a scientific record and a beautiful painting.

Famous Works

• Schweizer Pilztafeln für den praktischen Pilzsammler (1942–1947), Swiss National Library. His three-volume mushroom guide, later translated into French and Italian.
• Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) (1915–1945). The famous red, white-spotted toadstool.
• Amanita phalloides (death cap) (1915–1945). The deadly death cap, carefully recorded.
• Cantharellus cibarius (chanterelle) (1915–1945). The golden, much-loved edible mushroom.
• Boletus satanas (devil's bolete) (1915–1945). A bolete with a red stem and pale cap.
• Morchella elata (black morel) (1915–1945). A honeycombed spring morel.
• Boletus edulis var. fuscoruber (1915–1945). A form of the prized penny bun or porcini.

Decorating with Walty Prints

Walty's mushrooms are made for kitchens, dining rooms and pantries, and look wonderful in a grid of six or nine in natural oak or walnut frames. Their earthy browns, ochres and reds sit well with wood, terracotta and green walls.

For a playful accent, hang a single fly agaric in a child's room or bathroom, or group the morels and chanterelles in a cosy reading corner or cabin-style living room.

FAQ

Who was Hans Walty?

Hans E. Walty (1868–1948) was a Swiss painter, drawing teacher in Lenzburg and amateur mycologist, best known for his watercolours of mushrooms.

What are the Schweizer Pilztafeln?

They are mushroom guides for practical collectors, published by the Swiss mycological association with his watercolours from 1942, with French and Italian editions later. For decades they were a standard reference in Switzerland.

How many mushrooms did he paint?

Around 500 watercolours survive in his archive at the Swiss National Library, painted over more than 30 years.

Why do the plates say "edible" or "poisonous"?

Walty recorded each mushroom's German and Latin names, the date it was found and whether it was edible, inedible, suspect, poisonous or deadly, so collectors could use the plates safely.

Where can I see his original watercolours?

Most are in the Swiss National Library, which has catalogued and digitised the archive. Other paintings and sketchbooks are at the Museum Burghalde in Lenzburg.

Related Artists

• Ernst Haeckel: another great painter of nature's forms
• James Sowerby: earlier illustrator who also drew fungi
• Mary Vaux Walcott: fellow painter of wild plants from life
• Anna Atkins: another amateur naturalist and artist