BLANCHE BERTHOUD (1864 -1938)
Lyskamm or Silberbast (4,527 m - 14,852 ft)
Switzerland - Italy border
In blick auf den Liskamm, 1900
Lyskamm (4,527 m - 14,852 ft) which means literally "comb of the Lys", also known as Silberbast (literally "silver bast"), is a mountain in the Pennine Alps lying on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It consists of a five-kilometre-long ridge with two distinct peaks. The mountain has gained a reputation for seriousness because of the many cornices lying on the ridge and the frequent avalanches, thus leading to its nickname the Menschenfresser ("people eater"). Because of its modest prominence (376 m), Liskamm is sometimes considered to be part of the extended Monte Rosa group (in fact the Dufourspitze is only 107 metres higher). But visually Liskamm is a huge massif, composed of two summits: the Eastern Liskamm and the lower Western Liskamm, separated by a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long ridge, both lying on the border between the Swiss canton of Valais (north) and the Italian region of the Aosta Valley (south). The northern side of the mountain is an impressive 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) ice-covered wall, rising up from the Grenzgletscher. The gentler southern side rises only a few hundred metres above the glacier of the same name: Lysgletscher.
The painter
Blanche Berthoud was a Swiss painter from the region of Neufchatel (Switzerland) who was very active throughout the first half of the 20th century. She was part of the Société romande des femmes peintres (Romande Society of Women Painter) founded by the painter Jeanne Lombard (1865-1945) who defended very fiercely mountain women painters, a world often reserved for men. She made several paintings and watercolors of the Breithorn, one of which was acquired by the Museum of Art and History of Neufchatel
2017 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
