Augusto Giacometti. Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Murals and Stained Glass

Led by

Katharina Ammann (until 31.5.2020), Michael Egli, Tabea Schindler (since 1.6.2020)

Essays

Michael Egli, Denise Frey, Beat Stutzer

Partners

Denkmalpflege Graubünden, Kantonale Denkmalpflege Zürich, Vitrocentre Romont

Duration

2019–2023

Series

«Catalogues Raisonnés of Swiss Artists», vol. 31

Project description

Augusto Giacometti (1877–1947) was an outstanding Swiss painter with roots in Art Nouveau and Symbolism. He is regarded as a precursor of abstract art. Giacometti’s distinctive contribution centres on his stained glass windows and monumental murals. This systematic survey of his painted œuvre examines links between different periods in his career as well as the role played by colour and Giacometti’s interest in colour theory. Other aspects to be explored are his professional profile as an artist who combined commissions with independent output and his function as a member and chairman of the Federal Art Commission.
An estimated 650 works will be catalogued by scholars combined with a systematic appraisal of their provenance and of references found in literature and exhibition documents to all his paintings, murals, mosaics and stained glass windows. These findings will result in a highly qualified analysis of his works and provide useful material of relevance to both the contextualisation of the artist and the general history of Modernism in Switzerland. The research will be published in book form in 2023 and simultaneously on the Web for open access. The online publication (www.augusto-giacometti.ch) will permit complex search functions, with links from specific works to exhibitions and publications. The catalogue will be embedded within SIK-ISEA’s research portal, enabling Giacometti’s works to be studied in the broader context of artistic production during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Augusto Giacometti, The Night, 1903, tempera on canvas, 251.5 x 119 cm, Kunsthaus Zürich, on permanent loan from the Swiss Confederation, Bundesamt für Kultur, photo: Bundesamt für Kultur

Augusto Giacometti, Mountain Stream, 1904, tempera over fresco on wood, 165 x 57.5 cm, Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, photo: Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur

Augusto Giacometti, Mountains, 1904, oil on canvas, 82.2 x 179.8 cm, Kunstmuseum Basel, photo: Kunstmuseum Basel

Augusto Giacometti, Contemplation, 1906, oil on canvas, 114 x 114 cm, Kunsthaus Zürich, photo: SIK-ISEA, Zurich

Augusto Giacometti, Self-Portrait, 1910, oil on canvas, 41 x 31 cm, Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, photo: Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur

Augusto Giacometti, Fantasy over a Potato Blossom, 1917, oil on canvas, 132 x 135, Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, photo: Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur

Augusto Giacometti, Starry Sky, 1917, oil on canvas, diameter 86 cm, Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, photo: Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur

Augusto Giacometti, Painted entrance hall to Amtshaus I, 1923–1925, Zurich, photo: Stadt Zürich, Amt für Hochbauten, Fachstelle Kunst und Bau, Stefan Altenburger