Hodler - Segantini - Giacometti Masterpieces from the Gottfried Keller Foundation 24 March - 28 July 2019 Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana ...

Museo d’arte
della Svizzera italiana   Hodler – Segantini – Giacometti
Lugano
+41(0)91 815 7971
                          Masterpieces from the Gottfried Keller Foundation
info@masilugano.ch
www.masilugano.ch         24 March – 28 July 2019
                          Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano
                          at LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura
                          Curated byTobia Bezzola and Francesca Benini

                          Press conference: Friday, 22 March 11:00
                          Opening: Saturday, 23 March 18:00

                          Press release
                          Lugano, March 2019
                          From 24 March through 28 July 2019 Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, in partnership
                          with the Swiss National Museum in Zurich and the Federal Office of Culture, presents a
                          major exhibition of works from the collection of Fondazione Gottfried Keller. The exhibition
                          brings together great masterpieces from the collection stored in Swiss museums, including
                          works by Hodler, Segantini and Giacometti.
                          Almost 60 years after it was last presented to the public, Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana (MASI)
                          hosts masterpieces from Fondazione Gottfried Keller, one of Switzerland’s most important national
                          collections of from twelfth- to twentieth-century Swiss art, now managed by the Federal Office of
                          Culture. The exhibition, curated by director Tobia Bezzola and Francesca Benini, the museum’s
                          scientific partner, consists primarily of nineteenth and twentieth century paintings, with significant
                          incursions into previous centuries documenting some of Switzerland’s greatest artists.
                          The exhibition begins with Giovanni Serodine's La Vergine dei Mercedari (The Virgin of the
                          Mercedari, 1620-1625, Pinacoteca Cantonale Giovanni Züst, Rancate), continuing with important
                          eighteenth-century works by Liotard, Petrini, Wolf, Füssli and Sablet and nineteenth-century works
                          by Calame, Zünd, Böcklin, Koller, Anker, Hodler, Segantini and many more. When Fondazione
                          Gottfried Keller was founded in 1891, Lydia Welti-Escher appointed Arnold Böcklin as a member of
                          the Commission, while painter Albert Anker was appointed by the Federal Council. In the exhibition,
                          the artist from Basil is represented by important works including Die Toteninsel (Isle of the Dead,
                          1880, Kunstmuseum Basel), a famous example of his evocative painting. The painting was
                          purchased for Kunstmuseum Basel in 1920, along with another masterpiece of Swiss painting,
                          Ferdinand Hodler’s Der Auserwählte (The Chosen One, 1893-94), in storage in the Kunstmuseum in
                          Berne, a painting in which the artist applies the compositional principle based on symmetry that was
                          to become a distinguishing feature of his Symbolist painting. The work is exhibited along with the
                          landscape Abend am Genfersee (Evening on Lake Lemano, 1895, Kunsthaus Zürich), one of
                          Hodler’s favourite subjects for this genre of painting.
                          Giovanni Segantini's famous Alpine Triptych La Natura, La Vita, La Morte (Life, Nature and Death,
                          1896-1899), kept at Museo Segantini in St. Moritz, will be exhibited south of the Alps for the first
                          time since 1899. The painting was purchased by the Foundation in 1911, allowing the Engadin
                          museum to expand its collection of the artist’s works and make them its main attraction. The triptych
                          will stay on at MASI after the exhibition closes, in the centre of the exhibition Sublime. Luce e
                          paesaggio intorno a Giovanni Segantini (Sublime: Light and landscape around Giovanni Segantini),
                          flanked by important landscape paintings from the MASI collection painted around the same time.

                                                                                                                             1/11

Works by Meyer-Amden and Auberjonois – the first contemporary artists to appear in the collection,
in the sixties – Amiet, Vallotton, Itten and Giacometti take us into another century. In the twentieth
century, Felix Vallotton and other artists of his time rediscovered the genre of still life, as
demonstrated in a 1914 painting from Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne. The exhibition
concludes with a sculpture: Alberto Giacometti's Buste di Annette (Bust of Annette, 1964, Musée
d’art et Histoire Genève), in which the woman’s face captures all the energy and motion
characteristic of the Swiss sculptor’s work.
Finally, the exhibition also includes a number of works from the artistic heritage of the Ticino
included in the collections of MASI and other museums in the region. These include two paintings by
Filippo Franzoni, Self-portrait (1900-05) and Saleggi di Isolino (1890-95), from the collections of the
City of Lugano and the Canton Ticino, respectively; the above-mentioned La Vergine dei Mercedari
(1620-25) by Giovanni Serodine, in storage at Pinacoteca Cantonale Giovanni Züst, Rancate; and
Dame in Pelz (1919) by Cuno Amiet from Pinacoteca Comunale Casa Rusca in Locarno.
At the same time as the exhibition at MASI, between 14 February and 22 April 2019 the Swiss
National Museum in Zurich will go over the history of Fondazione Gottfried Keller and the variety of
its collection through an exhibition of precious items such as specimens of the goldsmith’s art,
paintings on glass, drawings, paintings and sculptures from the twelfth to the twentieth century. With
the support of the Swiss Confederation, the exhibitions in Lugano and Zurich commemorate the
bicentennial of the birth of Alfred Escher, father of Lydia Welti-Escher, who founded the Foundation,
and Gottfried Keller, to whom it is dedicated.

List of artists on exhibit
Giovanni Serodine (1594 ca –1630)/ Giuseppe Antonio Petrini (1677–1759)/ Jean-Etienne Liotar
(1702–1789)/ Caspar Wolf (1735–1783)/ Johann Heinrich Füssli (1741–1825)/ Jacques Sablet
(1749–1803)/ Louis-Léopold Robert (1794-1835)/ Charles Gleyre (1806 -1874)/ Alexandre
Calame (1810–1864)/ Albert Anker (1810-1864)/ Barthélemy Menn (1815-1893)/ Arnold
Böcklin (1827-1901)/ Robert Zünd (1827-1909)/ Rudolf Keller (1828-1905)/ Frank Buchser
(1828-1890)/ Otto Frölicher (1840-1890)/ Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918)/ Filippo Franzoni
(1857–1911)/ Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899)/ Albert Welti (1862-1912)/ Félix Vallotton (1865-
1925)/ Giovanni Giacometti (1868-1933)/ Max Buri (1868-1915)/ Cuno Amiet (1868-1961)/
Alice Bailly (1872–1938)/ Réne Auberjonois (1872-1957)/ Adolf Dietrich (1877-1957)/ Otto
Meyer-Amden (1885-1933)/ Johannes Itten (1888-1967)/ Albert Müller (1897-1926)/ François
Barraud (1899-1934)/ Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966)

Fondazione e Collezione Gottfried Keller
Fondazione Gottfried Keller was established in 1890 by Lydia Welti-Escher, daughter and heir to
politician, industrial pioneer and railway entrepreneur Alfred Escher. Lydia Welti-Escher left the
Swiss Confederation a legacy that included the majority of her assets, making the donation
conditional on the purchase of important works of art for Swiss museums. The Foundation is named
after family friend Gottfried Keller, the famous Swiss poet and painter.
Ever since it was established, the Foundation’s statute has required a Commission of five members,
still appointed by the Federal Council, with a four-year mandate. This Commission is entrusted with
purchasing artworks, which become the property of the Swiss Confederation and, in the spirit of
federalism, are distributed among various different Swiss museums on permanent loan.
In its early years, Fondazione Gottfried Keller played a decisive role in preventing the foreign sale of
cultural assets and bringing important works back to Switzerland. Today, it continues to work in close
collaboration with individual Swiss museums to acquire artworks of significance for the country.
Its collection is now one of the most important collections of twelfth to twentieth century Swiss art,
including over 6,400 artworks in storage in about 70 museums and 30 other institutions in 23 Swiss
Cantons. The collection represents almost all the disciplines and techniques of art and the applied
arts, from goldsmithing to photography, and also included a number of buildings, such as the San
Giorgio monastery complex in Stein am Rhein and Wülflingen Castle in Winterthur, which have since
been transferred to the Confederation.

                                                                                                   2/11

Catalogue
The exhibitions are accompanied by the publication Capolavori della Fondazione Gottfried Keller,
published by Edizioni Casagrande (in Italian) with Scheidegger & Spiess (in German and French),
presenting colour images of the works on display with technical information by Heidi Amrein,
Francesca Benini, Christian Hörack, Erika Hebeisen, Mylène Ruoss, Christian Weiss and Franz
Zelger, as well as greetings from federal councillor Alain Berset, a preface by directors Tobia Bezzola
(MASI Lugano) and Andreas Spillmann (Swiss National Museum) and an introduction by the director
of the Confederation's Art Collections, Andreas Münch.

Educational activities
In addition to the usual free guided tours taking place every Sunday at 11:00 am in Italian and at
12:00 in German, several cultural activities are scheduled throughout the duration of the exhibition in
order to involve the audience and turning the visit to the exhibition into an enriching and emotional
experience. The programme is available on the website www.edu.luganolac.ch.

Exhibition programme
In 2019, the MASI will work on important projects in collaboration with Swiss and international
Museums and artists. In addition to Hodler – Segantini – Giacometti. Masterpieces from the Gottfried
Keller Foundation, the Museum, in cooperation with the Aargauer Kunsthaus, present a great
retrospective regarding Swiss Surrealism (until 16 June 2019). After the exhibition, from 25 August
to 10 November 2019, the Museum will present Sublime, a project revolving around the exceptional
presence of La Natura, La Vita, La Morte (Nature, Life, Death), the renowned triptyque by Giovanni
Segantini, and its connections with a selection of works from the MASI collection. The Museum will
also host Swiss artists Franz Gertsch, with a projects curated by himself (from 12 May to 22
September 2019), and Julian Charrierè, with his interdisciplinary project Towards No Earthly Pole
(from 8 September 2019 to 05 January 2020); and the American photographer William Wegman,
with his first European stage of his latest project Being Human (from 8 September 2019 to 5
January 2020).

                                                                                                  3/11

MASI Lugano
The Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano represents the point of arrival of an in-depth revision
of the cultural policies that led to the merger between the Museo Cantonale d’Arte and the Museo
d’Arte di Lugano as a single institution. The museum has two locations: on view at LAC are exhibits
aimed at delving deeper into twentieth-century and contemporary art as well as the museum's
permanent collection, while Palazzo Reali (temporarily closed for refurbishment) focuses on the
history of art in the territory, and the valorization of specific groups in the museum collection. A main
partner of MASI Lugano is Credit Suisse, which confirms its historical commitment in favour of art in
Lugano.

Current Exhibition
Surrealism Switzerland
LAC, until 16.06.2019

Forthcoming Exhibitions
A Collection in Progress – Nature is what we see
Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati, from 29.03 to 16.06.2019
Gertsch – Gauguin – Munch
Cut in Wood
LAC, from 12.05 to 22.09.2019
Sublime
Light and landscape around Giovanni Segantini
LAC, from 25.08 to 10.11.2019
William Wegman: Being Human
LAC, from 08.09.2019 to 05.01.2020
Marisa Merz
Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati, from 22.09.2019 to 12.01.2020
Julian Charrière
Towards No Earthly Pole
LAC, from 27.10.2019 to 14.03.2020

                                                                                                    4/11

Information
Location
LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura
Piazza Bernardino Luini 6
CH - 6901 Lugano

Opening hours
Tuesday - Sunday: 10:00 – 18:00
Open until 20:00 on Thursday
Closed on Monday

Admission
Admission fees and a complete list of discounts may be found on the Museum’s web site.

Buy tickets
www.masilugano.ch
www.luganolac.ch

Contacts
Visitor Services
+41 (0)58 866 42 40
info@masilugano.ch
Guided tours and workshops
+41 (0)58 866 4230
lac.edu@lugano.ch

                                                                                         5/11

Main Partner MASI Lugano

Founders

Institutional Partner

Scientific Partner

                           6/11

Press contacts
LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura
Ufficio comunicazione
+41 (0)58 866 4214
lac.comunicazione@lugano.ch

French and German-speaking parts of Switzerland and other Countries
Neutral Zürich
Michelle Nicol
+41 79 642 0207
nic@neutralzurich.com

Italy
ddl+battage
Alessandra de Antonellis
+39 339 3637388
alessandra.deantonellis@ddlstudio.net
Margherita Baleni
+39 347 4452374
margherita.baleni@battage.net

                                                                      7/11

Captions

01.
Albert Anker
Kleinkinderschule auf der Kirchenfeldbrücke
(I bambini dell’asilo sul ponte Kirchenfeld)
1900
Olio su tela
76 x 127 cm
Kunstmuseum Bern
© Kunstmuseum Bern

02.
Arnold Böcklin
Die Toteninsel (L’Isola dei morti)
1880
Tempera su tela
110.9 x 156.4 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel
© Kunstmuseum Basel
Foto: Martin P. Bühler

03.
Alexandre Calame
Le grand Eiger (Il grande Eiger)
1844
Olio su tela
104 x 138
Kunstmuseum Bern
© Kunstmuseum Bern

04.
Filippo Franzoni
Saleggi di Isolino
1890 - 1895
Olio su tavola
40 x 29.5 cm
Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano
Collezione Cantone Ticino
© Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano.
Collezione Cantone Ticino

                                                  8/11

05.
Johann Heinrich Füssli
Die Sünde vom Tod verfolgt
(Peccato inseguito dalla morte)
1794-1796
Olio su tela
119 x 132 cm
Kunsthaus Zürich
© Kunsthaus Zürich

06.
Alberto Giacometti
Buste d’Annette (Busto di Annette)
1964
Bronzo
45 x 19 x 15 cm
Musée d’art et d’histoire, Genève
© 2019 Prolitteris, Zurich / Giacometti Stiftung
Foto: Bettina Jacot-Descombes

07.
Ferdinand Hodler
Abend am Genfersee (Sera sul Lago Lemano)
1895
Olio su tela
100 x 130 cm
Kunsthaus Zürich
© Kunsthaus Zürich

08.
Ferdinand Hodler
Der Auserwählte (L’Eletto)
1893 - 1894
Tempera e olio su tela
219 x 296 cm
Kunstmuseum Bern
© Kunstmuseum Bern

                                                   9/11

09.
Veduta del trittico La Natura, La Vita, La Morte
di Giovanni Segantini
Museo Segantini, St. Moritz
© Museo Segantini, St. Moritz
Foto: FotoFlury

       La Vita
       1896‒1899
       Olio su tela
       Museo Segantini, St. Moritz
       © Museo Segantini, St. Moritz
       Foto: FotoFlury

       La Natura
       1897‒1899
       Olio su tela
       Museo Segantini, St. Moritz
       © Museo Segantini, St. Moritz
       Foto: FotoFlury

       La Morte
       1896‒1899
       Olio su tela
       Museo Segantini, St. Moritz
       © Museo Segantini, St. Moritz
       Foto: FotoFlury

10.
Giovanni Serodine
La Vergine dei Mercedari
1620 - 1625
Olio su tela
200 x 131 cm
Pinacoteca Züst, Rancate
© Pinacoteca cantonale Giovanni Züst
Foto: Roberto Pellegrini

                                                   10/11

11.
Félix Vallotton
Nature morte (Natura morta)
1914
OIio su tela
65.5 x 81.3 cm
Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne
© Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne
Foto: Jean-Claude Ducret

                                            11/11