Descendants of a Swiss immigrant artist who lived in the Goessel and Buhler areas around 1900 will officially present two of the painter?s original works to Mennonite Heritage & Agricultural Museum in Goessel at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, in the museum?s Immigrant House.
Marlin Kym of Buhler, grandson of artist Emil Kym, will represent the family in unveiling the ?The Sinking of the Elbe? and ?Seasons.? Both paintings are oils on cardboard.
Emil Kym immigrated from Mohlen, Switzerland, to the Goessel area in 1896 and began to establish a reputation as an excellent and well-liked interior painter, according to Marjorie Jant?zen Shoemaker, museum director.
Kym painted the interiors of the Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church and several homes. About two years later, Kym and his family moved to the Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church area near Buhler, where they lived on one acre of land.
Kym painted the interiors of many homes in the Buhler and Moundridge areas. His work included faux wood graining on woodwork and furniture, wall murals of Swiss scenes, and trompe d?oeil (trick of the eye) details.
Kym died in 1918; he was buried in the Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church cemetery. The art gallery at Goessel High School is named in his honor.
