Giovanni Giacometti (1868-1933)

Aliases: G. Giacometti

Professions: Painter; Etcher; Wood cutter; Lithographer; Water color painter

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  GIOVANNI GIACOMETTI 1868-1933

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  Die Mutter, um 1911

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  Giovanni Giacometti 1868-1933

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  GIOVANNI GIACOMETTI 1868 - 1933

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Giovanni Giacometti Biography

(b Stampa, 7 March 1868; d Glion, nr Montreux, 25 June 1933). Painter and printmaker. Although not as famous as his son (3) Alberto Giacometti, he ranks as one of Switzerland’s noteworthy early modernists. Son of a rural innkeeper, he received no early artistic training. After secondary school (1884–6) in Schiers, near Chur, he studied painting in Munich, where he met Cuno Amiet. From October 1888 they studied together for three years in Paris, primarily painting and drawing at the Académie Julian. Returning in 1891 to Stampa, Giacometti worked in obscurity, mainly painting but also producing some etchings. Between 1894 and 1899 he was encouraged by Giovanni Segantini, from whom he learnt the divisionist technique of systematic parallel brushstrokes, as in Mother and Child under Flowering Tree (1900; Chur, Bündner Kstmus.). In 1897 the influence of Ferdinand Hodler, with whom he and Amiet had a joint exhibition in Zurich in 1898, is evident in Panorama of the Muotta Muragl (1897–8; Chur, Bündner Kstmus.). Through publications, occasional trips, and especially Amiet’s visits, Giacometti assimilated recent stylistic innovations from France. In 1904–5 he developed a more avant-garde style, for example in Piz Duan (1905; Chur, Bündner Kstmus.), reflecting the flattened forms and bold colours of the Pont-Aven group. In 1907 Giacometti was inspired by the works of Paul Cézanne, which he saw with Amiet in the Salon d’Automne in Paris. In 1907–8 he copied paintings in Swiss private collections by Van Gogh. These sources inspired him to develop more dynamic and assertive brushstrokes, and his mature style, a variant of Fauvism, emphasized two-dimensional space and form and high-keyed, strongly contrasted colours. In the next ten years Giacometti created his most vividly coloured and freely brushed compositions, such as Bridge in the Sun and Rainy Day at Capolago (1907; Chur, Bündner Kstmus.), The Lamp (1912; Zurich, Ksthaus) and Midsummer’s Fire Dance (c. 1912–18; Chur, Bündner Kstmus.). In 1907–8, inspired by his contact with Die Brücke artists, he began to make woodcuts in the German style, which he often enhanced with colours. Some, such as Nude Boys Wrestling and Children of the Sun (c . 1912–13; Chur, Bündner Kstmus.), relate to his paintings. Gradually he achieved public recognition, particularly with one-man exhibitions at the Kunsthaus in Zurich (1912) and the Kunstmuseum in Berne (1920). Around 1916 his technique gradually evolved away from vigorous brushwork towards more lyrical description, as in the Sculptor and his Model (1923; Zurich, Ksthaus); this mature style strongly influenced his son Alberto. The paintings of his late years express his love of colour but lack the energy and bravura of his earlier work.

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