Augusto Giacometti (16 August 1877 – 9 June 1947) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

from Stampa, Graubünden, cousin of Giovanni Giacometti who was the father of Alberto,

Diego Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. ...

and Bruno Giacometti. He was a prominent as a painter in the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

and Symbolism movements, one of the first abstract painters, for his work in

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

, as a proponent of murals and a designer of popular posters. He finished (among others)

windows in both of the most important churches of Zürich, Grossmünster and

Fraumünster The Fraumünster (; lit. in en, Women's Minster, but often wrongly translated to urLady Minster) is a church in Zürich which was built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women which was founded in 853 by Louis the German for h ...

, as well as the inner decoration of the so-called

Waisenhaus Zürich Waisenhaus (also Amthaus I) is the last remaining building of the Oetenbach nunnery, and houses today the police department of the city of Zürich in Switzerland. Location The ''Waisenhaus'' building is situated at ''Bahnhofquai 3'' towards Ba ...

. From 1909 to 1913 Augusto Giacometti was a great inspiration for Czech born sculptor Helen Zelezny-Scholz. A two-day hiking trail connects most of the locations of the family in Val Bregaglia.

Life and work

Augusto was part of the successful Giacometti dynasty of painters. He grew up near the home and studio of his cousin Giovanni Giacometti, and devoted himself to painting from a young age. After completing his training as an art teacher at the Zurich University of the Arts between 1894 and 1897, he moved to Paris to study under Eugène Grasset from 1897 to 1901. Following periods of residence in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

and Zurich he settled down in Zurich in 1915. In 1917 Giacometti came to know the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

ists

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

, Marcel Janco, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and

Hugo Ball Hugo Ball (; 22 February 1886 – 14 September 1927) was a German author, poet, and essentially the founder of the Dada movement in European art in Zürich in 1916. Among other accomplishments, he was a pioneer in the development of sound poetry. ...

. He took part in the 8th Dada-Soirée in the Zurich merchants' hall and became a member of the group of artists "Das Neue Leben" (1918–1920). Known for his decorations in holy arts and his floral subjects, in 1919 Giacometti was initiated to the Swiss Freemasonry at

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

. With the realization of his design for the entrance hall (now known as Giacometti-Halle) of the police station at

between 1923 and 1925, Giacometti accomplished one of his most important works. The great recognition he received for this work paved the way for him to further important commissions. In 1929 he created the colorful glass windows in the east wall of the Protestant church in

Frauenfeld Frauenfeld ( Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic ...

, in 1933 the choral windows of Grossmünster in Zurich, in 1937 the choral windows of the village church of Adelboden, and in 1945 a stained-glass window of

. He was one of the first painters of the 20th century to take steps into non-representational painting; his abstract paintings reflect his exhaustive study of the characteristics and rules of color. His epitaph reads ''Qui riposa il maestro dei colori'', "here lies the master of color." Giacometti influenced the German painter August Babberger greatly in both his style and his choice of subjects.

File:Grossmünster - Innenansicht IMG 6431 ShiftN.jpg, Giacometti's window in Grossmünster (1933) File:Glasfenster Augusto Giacometti.JPG, Window of Kirche San Giorgio in Borgonovo, where Giacometti is buried File:Fraumünster - Innenansicht - Giacometti-Fenster 2010-08-27 17-02-52 ShiftN.jpg, Window of Fraumünster ''Das himmlische Paradies'' (1945) File:Giacometti-Fenster in St Johann Davos 1.jpg, Church of St. Johann in

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alps, Alpine resort town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, muni ...

Exhibitions

* 2014/2015: ''Color and I. Augusto Giacometti'',

Museum of Fine Arts Bern The Museum of Fine Arts Bern (German: ''Kunstmuseum Bern''), established in 1879 in Bern, is the museum of fine arts of the de facto capital of Switzerland. Its holdings run from the Middle Ages to the present. It houses works by Paul Klee, Pabl ...

References

*''This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia.''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giacometti, Augusto 1877 births 1947 deaths Alberto Giacometti Stained glass artists and manufacturers Zurich University of the Arts alumni 19th-century Swiss painters 19th-century male artists Swiss male painters 20th-century Swiss painters 20th-century male artists