James Vibert (15 August 1872 in Carouge,

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

– 2 May 1942, Plan-les-Ouates) was a Swiss sculptor and educator. He is known as one of the precursors of the

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

movement in Switzerland.

Biography

Vibert was educated as an

ironwork Ironwork is any weapon, artwork, utensil, or architectural feature made of iron, especially one used for decoration. There are two main types of ironwork: wrought iron and cast iron. While the use of iron dates as far back as 4000BC, it was the ...

er in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

and moved to

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in 1891, where he joined the atelier of Rodin and where he associated himself with

French Symbolism Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

. After his return to Switzerland he was commissioned for the monumental ''Three Confederates'' completed for the

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in 1914, and was nominated professor of the Geneva University of Art and Design (formerly École des Beaux-Arts de Genève) at

. His former students included

Pierre Le Faguays Pierre Camille Marie Le Faguays (1892–1962) was a French Art Deco sculptor. He also used the pseudonyms Fayral, and Guebre. Le Faguays made statuettes, lamps and decorative objects. Biography Pierre Le Faguays was born in 1892 in Nantes, F ...

Ferdinand Hodler Ferdinand Hodler (March 14, 1853 – May 19, 1918) was one of the best-known Swiss painters of the nineteenth century. His early works were portraits, landscapes, and genre paintings in a realistic style. Later, he adopted a personal form of ...

painted two portraits of Vibert, one in 1907 and the other in 1915. The 1907 portrait is on display at

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as part of the

Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection The Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection is an art collection held by the Art Institute of Chicago.Art Institute of Chicago It is based on a collection assembled by Helen Louise Birch and her husband, Frederic Clay Bartlett. Birch and Bartlett ...

References

*P.-E. Vibert, ''La vie et l'oeuvre de James Vibert'' (obituary with 36 reproductions), Geneva, 1942. *

Charles Baudouin Charles Baudouin (; 26 July 1893 – August 25, 1963) was a French psychoanalyst and pacifist. His psychoanalytical work combined Freudianism with elements of the thought of Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. Biography Baudouin was born in Nancy, F ...

, ''James Vibert'', vol. 4 of ''Artistes romands contemporains'', Editions des Nouveaux Cahiers, 1943. *Louis Avennier, ''James Vibert, statuaire'', S. A. des Éditions Sonor, 1922. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vibert, James Swiss sculptors Symbolist sculptors 1872 births 1942 deaths 20th-century sculptors People from Carouge