This book is the first portrait of the Righini-Fries family of artists, who shaped Swiss cultural life for over 100 years in a unique way, through their own artistic work as well as through their cultural-political commitment. Sigismund Righini (1870-1937) was a networker with an imposing beard, who competed with Hodler and Amiet and left behind a brilliant late oeuvre. His militant demands for the welfare of artists were so compelling that even federal councillors could not resist. As a charismatic curator, he celebrated hanging as an alchemical act. Willy Fries (1881-1965), his son-in-law, documented Zurich's transformation into a modern metropolis in hundreds of lively social scenes, including boxing matches, demonstration processions, and dance evenings. Hanny Fries (1918-2009), an intellectual, sublimated contemporary events with brush and pen, doing so with verve and grace.