Alice Bailly (25 February 1872 – 1 January 1938) was a Swiss avant-garde painter, known for her interpretations on

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

, her wool paintings, and her participation in the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

movement. In 1906, Bailly had settled in Paris where she befriended Juan Gris,

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typography, typographist closely associated with Dada. When consid ...

, and Marie Laurencin, avant-garde

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

painters who influenced her works and her later life.

Family and background

Originally, the family name was Bally, but after a critic mistook her name for "Bolly" in a review she had it changed to "Bailly" to avoid further confusions. She was born to a modestly situated family in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland. Bailly's father, who worked as a Post Office official, died when Bailly was fourteen. Her mother, a German teacher, taught Bailly and her two sisters to be cultured and full of energy.

Education and early career

At seventeen, she attended the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

and took women's-only courses. She believed that the purpose of the school was to develop her individual talent, not introduce their ideas to her. During her time there she studied under Hugues Bovy and Denise Sarkiss. She won a scholarship to study in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany, but after a disastrous and short lived stint in class she spent the rest of her time studying

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of Frans van Dyck, a wealt ...

, and other master artists at the Munich Art Gallery. Bailly spent a couple of years back in Geneva, working on painting and wood engraving (with limited success). In 1904, at the age of thirty-two, Bailly moved to Paris, where she befriended a number of notable modernist painters such as Juan Gris,

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

, Sonia Lewitska and Marie Laurencin. The following year Bailly was invited to spend a couple of weeks at the Villa Médicis-Libre, a sanctuary for artists that had not had the privilege of having a formal arts education in Rome.

Inspiration and Fauvism

While in Paris exhibiting her wood engravings, she became interested in

Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

. What drew Bailly to fauvism was the "style's bold use of intense colors, dark outlines, and emphatically unrealistic anatomy and space." Her paintings in this style were eventually shown in the Salon d'Automne in 1908 along with many other distinguished Fauve painters.

Cubism and wool paintings

In 1912, Bailly's work was chosen to represent Swiss artists in an exhibit that traveled through Russia, England, and Spain. After this, she became immersed in Futuristic aesthetics and the avant-garde. At the start of World War I, Bailly returned to her native country of Switzerland and invented her signature "wool paintings," which were her own variations of

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

. The style consisted of short strands of colored yarn that acted as brush strokes. She made about 50 of these wool paintings between 1913 and 1922.

Dadaism

During World War I, the

phenomenon came about, with which Bailly was briefly involved. The movement, beginning in Switzerland, consisted of a variety of art forms and aimed to provoke violent reactions out of its viewers, not to please the public eye. Many believe modern performance art was developed because of this movement.

''Salon de Independents''

The ''Salon de Independents'' was established in 1884 for artists who did not meet traditional standards of artistic style at the time. The society was open to everyone and allowed female artists a venue to exhibit their works. Alice Bailly was regularly exhibited in the society, along with many other female artists specializing in

. Pieces featured in the 1913 ''Salon de Independents'', as well as those at the 1914 ''Salon d'Automne'' were criticized in her home of Geneva as being "humbug, or worse, cerebral devagations provoking ocular disease and headaches."

Famous works

Bailly's most famous work is said to be her painting titled ''Self Portrait'', painted in 1917. The painting represents a more avant-garde approach to self-portraits than was normally accepted at her time. The painting incorporates many styles. Her three-quarter-turned pose indicates a traditional self-portrait, while the red, orange and blue hues show Fauve influences. When looking at her arms and hands, the arching lines represent the influence of Italian Futurist art. Some of her other notable works include ''At the Ball'' (1927), ''The Battle of Tolochenaz'' (1916), ''Geneva Harbor'' (1915), ''Landscape at Orsay'' (1912), and ''Vacation'' (1922).

Later life

In 1923 she moved to

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

and remained there until her death. In 1936, the Theatre of Lausanne commissioned her to paint eight large murals for the foyer. This daunting task led to the exhaustion which many speculate contributed to her death in 1938 of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. In her will, she established a trust fund to aid young Swiss artists with the money made through the sale of her art.

Retrospective exhibitions

* ''Alice Bailly: Exposition du Centenaire'', Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland, 1933 * ''Alice Bailly: Exposition du Centenaire'', Musée de l’Athénée, Geneva, Switzerland, 1932