Giovanni Giacometti

Emma Schmidt-Müller, Zurich

Dr Rudolf Schmidt, Solothurn (acquired by descent from the above)

Erika Peters-Schmidt, Kilchberg (acquired by descent from the above by 1973)

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Walter Hugelshofer, Giovanni Giacometti 1868-1933, Zurich & Leipzig, 1936, no. 16, pp. 15 & 23, illustrated (titled Farbige Landschaft)

Walter Hugelshofer, "Giovanni Giacometti", Quaderni Grigioni Italiani, 1938, no. 16, p. 172, illustrated (titled Paesaggio colorito)

Hansjakob Diggelmann, Westermanns Monatshefte, October 1968, no. 11, p. 10, illustrated (titled Landschaft mit farbigen Bäumen)

Elisabeth Esther Köhler, Giovanni Giacometti 1868-1933, Leben und Werk, Zurich, 1969, no. 483 (titled Herbstlandschaft)

George Mauner, "Giovanni Giacometti", Pennsylvania, 1973-74, no. 78, p. 76 & 88, illustrated (titled Autumn Landscape)

Hans A. Lüthy & Hans-Jörg Heusser, Kunst in der Schweiz 1890-1980, Zurich, 1983, p. 188, illustrated (titled Bunte Landschaft mit Bäumen und Schönwetterwolken)

Paul Müller, "Giovanni Giacometti und Cuno Amiet", Giovanni Giacometti 1868-1933, Leben und Werk, Zurich, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 146 & 237, illustrated

Exh. Cat., Winterthur, Kunstmuseum; Lausanne, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts & Chur, Bündner Kunstmuseum, Giovanni Giacometti 1968-1933, 1996, pp. 154 & 254, illustrated

Paul Müller & Viola Radlach, Giovanni Giacometti, 1868-1933, Werkkatalog der Gemälde, II-1, Zurich, 1997, no. 1910.41, p. 72 (detail), 85, 318 & 319, illustrated

Dieter Schwarz, Giovanni Giacometti, 1868-1933, Zurich, 1996, p. 146, illustrated

Zurich, Kunsthaus Zürich, Sektion Aargau der Gesellschaft Schweizerischer Maler, Bildauer und Architeken, Giovanni Giacometti, 1912, no. 150

Zurich, Kunsthaus Zürich, Ernest Biéler, Giovanni Giacometti, Fritz Gilsi [et al.], 1912, no. 364

Basel, Kunsthalle Basel, März-Ausstellung. Max Buri, Giovanni Giacometti, Ferdinand Hodler [et al.], 1913, no. 40

Zurich, Galerie Aktuaryus, Giovanni Giacometti, Cuno Amiet, 1940, no. 21 (titled Herbstwald)

Geneva, Galerie Amann, Giovanni Giacometti, Peintures, aquarelles, dessins, 1941, no. 1 (titled Forêt en automne)

Bern, Kunsthalle Bern, Les Fauves und die Zeitgenossen, 1950, no. 133

Basel, Kunsthalle Basel, Antoine Bourdelle 1861-1929, Giovanni Giacometti 1868-1933, 1952, no. 7 (titled Herbstlandschaft bei Stampa)

Chur, Kunsthaus Chur, Graubünden in der Malerei des 20. Jahrhunderts, 1954, no. 32

Schaffhausen, Museum zu Allerheiligen & Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Orangerie Charlottenburg, Triumph der Farbe, Die europäischen Fauves, 1959, no. 121 (titled Landschaft)

Bern, Kunstmuseum Bern, Jubiläumsausstellung Cuno Amiet 1868-1961, Giovanni Giacometti 1868-1933, Werke bis 1920, 1968, no. 185 (titled Herbstlandschaft bei Stampa)

Chur, Kunsthaus Chur, Jubiläumsausstellung Giovanni Giacometti 1868-1933, 1968, no. 54 (titled Herbstlandschaft bei Stampa)

Sissach, Schloss Ebenrain & Chur, Kunsthaus Chur, Expressionismus, 1972, no. 19 (titled Herbstlandschaft bei Stampa)

Pennsylvania, PA, The Pennsylvania State University Museum of Art; Utica, NY, Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute; Cambridge, MA, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University & New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Cuno Amiet, Giovanni Giacometti, Augusto Giacometti, Three Swiss Painters, 1973-74, no. 78, p. 88, illustrated (titled Autumn Landscape)

Winthertur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Expressionismus in der Schweiz 1905-1930, 1975, no. 102 (titled Herbstlandschaft)

Mexico City, Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo & Barcelona, Fundación Miró, Giacometti, Giovanni, Augusto, Alberto, Diego, 1987, no. 6, p. 128, illustrated (titled Paisaje)

Zurich, Kunstsalon Wolfsberg, Giovanni Giacometti, 1988, p. 61 & 77, illustrated (titled Herbstlandschaft)

Winterthur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur; Lausanne, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts & Chur, Bündner Kunstmuseum, Giovanni Giacometti 1868-1933, 1996-97, p. 146 & 154, illustrated

Paris, Musée d’Orsay, Modernités suisses, 2021, no. 25, illustrated (titled Paysage ensoleillé (Agn))

Saint-Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght, The Giacometti: A Family of Creators, 2021, p. 41, illustrated (titled Paysage ensoleillé)

Paysage ensoleillé (Agn) is one of Giovanni Giacometti’s most expressive and emotive landscape paintings. It is one of only a handful of paintings that combines the artist’s forceful use of colour with energetic and dynamic brushstrokes to create a radically modern re-interpretation of this genre.

1910 was a seminal year for Giovanni Giacometti. Following two years of highly successful international exhibitions, he was awarded first prize for his painting Maternité (now Collection Dr. Christoph Blocher, Switzerland) at the tenth International Exhibition in Munich. What followed were invitations by renowned galleries such as Galerie Thannhauser, whose programme was at the forefront of the avant-garde, continuously pushing the boundaries of Modernism in Europe. It was probably here that Giovanni Giacometti encountered Alexej von Jawlensky, who alongside Wassily Kandinsky was one of the stalwarts of the Neue Künstlervereinigung. Their bold use of primary colours and expressive brushstrokes would have a lasting impact on Giacometti and his practice. Upon his return to Switzerland, Giacometti immediately implemented the use of pure and rich colour to create an emotively charged interpretation of one of his favourite motifs: the landscape of his native Bergell.

Paysage ensoleillé (Agn) captures a motif between Stampa and Soglio in a palette that was a radical departure from previous works by the artist. Moving away from a naturalistic use of colour, Giacometti juxtaposes contrasting colours, placing fiery orange in the tree next to luminescent blue in the sky, and soft ivory clouds next to dark green trees. The resulting vibrancy and tension is only further underscored by the loose and energetic brushwork. While Giacometti had previously experimented with a looser application of paint following his exposure to Fauvism in Paris, it was not until his return to Switzerland that he was able to combine the lessons of Modernism and education in Divisionism to create a pictorial language that was uniquely his own.

The work was first owned by Emma Schmidt-Müller, an important patron of early Swiss modernism and an ardent supporter of Ferdinand Hodler and Giovanni Giacometti. As the sister of Josef Müller, one of Switzerland’s most pre-eminent collectors, she formed part of an important circle of patrons and supporters of Swiss artists. The work has remained in the family collection until recently and hitherto never appeared at auction.