Martigny , 6 December 2007 to 9 March 2008




Albert Chavaz – 100th anniversary

Just over a year ago, Edouard Vallet (1876-1924) was being honoured at the Pierre Gianadda Foundation in Martigny. His compatriot, Albert Chavaz (1907-1990), now succeeds him. What they have in common is that, with a thirty-year interval, they both attended fine arts courses in Geneva, they both made the Valais their second homeland, celebrating the Old Country without ever succumbing to the folklore. They both lived in Savièse – Chavaz spent the rest of his life there - where so many painters made the most not only of the incomparable light, but of the best the locals had to offer them by posing for them.

Chavaz, the 100th anniversary of whose birth we commemorate this year, differs from Vallet by the breadth of his activities and his longevity. Not only did he devote himself to painting, drawing and engraving, but he dabbled amply in ceramics, mosaic, fresco and stained glass, with numerous civil and religious works. Monumental art partially inspired him – both materially and spiritually – caus-ing him to master quite specific techniques. But let there be no mistake, he is first and foremost a painter and a virtuoso of water-colour, an art that had not yet found its public. It is, however, the expression of spontaneity and genius, as Turner so masterfully showed. Although Chavaz had no Master in the strict sense of the term, he tirelessly criss-crossed Europe doing the rounds of museums and exhibitions, researching the procedures adopted by such Old Mas-ters as Corot, Courbet, Titien and, closer to us, Cézanne, Poliakoff or de Staël. When he was in Florence in 1956, he noted, “A picture is a complete, solid thing from everywhere. A firm clasping and in-termingling of hands.” This aphorism sums him up completely.

More than 150 of the Master’s works in Martigny

The exhibition, which aims to pay tribute to him, includes nearly a hundred oils, about thirty water-colours, a score of engravings, not to mention gouaches and drawings. In this respect, let us recall Chavaz’s interest in prints, using etching, lithography, linocut and especially aquatint. As from the ‘70s, he was periodically to at-tend the Saint-Prex copper-plate engraving workshop run by Pietro Sarto. This gave him the opportunity to admirably illustrate vari-ous albums including Paysages – Poems by Jacques de Chastonay, Salu-tation paysanne by C.F. Ramuz and, finally, Une famille d’arbres, selected texts by Jules Renard.
All due credit must be given to the draftsman whose sketchbooks abound in notations jotted down over time. The visitor will have the privilege of viewing more than 3000 sketches planned in a loop, most of which were done in ballpoint pen. Such a volume of work goes to prove his capacity to catch the essence of things with the acuity of an eagle.

Landscapes, life scenes, nudes, still life and portraits are just some of the ways in which he liked to express himself; there are many examples of this to be found in the exhibition. The very con-cept of the portrait is singularly broad in his work because, start-ing with a landscape or a nude, he finally ended up with a portrait. All of his work is characterised by the synthesis of a structured version of his subjects. His native anxiety is often offset by the fullness of the result of the object painted. One is tempted to say that Chavaz is devoted to laboratory transmutations or, in his case, transmutations in his workshop. One wall of this mythical place, authentically reconstituted as it was, will restore the environment of the artist’s workplace in Savièse. As Paul Riniker recalls in the exhibition catalogue, Chavaz is perceived as “a colourist in a state of grace”. But the man was not only pure spirit, he had a lust for life and let it shine through in many of his compositions, be they nudes or still life. He was a sociable chap and he also had a sense of human relations and cultivated friendships better than most.

Some reading matter to tell you more

Certain artists leave you orphaned, leaving behind but few of their works. In Chavaz’s case, the number of documents that can inform us about his personality and work is considerable. His speech problem often made him choose the written word. He was to exchange more than 350 letters with his fellow-painter, Emile Chambon, and other items of correspondence, more modest but no less important, tell us of his relations with eminent personalities such as René Auberjon-ois, Charles-Albert Cingria or Maurice Chappaz, not to mention the profusion of messages addressed to friends from here or there. His notebooks do not contain sketches alone, he also jotted down his thoughts, be they plastic, existential or metaphysical in nature. Eighteen pocket diaries trace out his life, also providing a new mine of information. Another source of importance is the reasoned catalogue of works in oils, of which there are no less than 2383 in number! Some of the exhibition showcases will stress this aspect of his life.

The Savièse painter had no oversized ego. His opening to others is expressed in many ways. The exhibition concentrates on one of these in particular by devoting a room to artists in his circle of friends. This includes, among others, works by Courbet, Felix Val-lotton, Alice Bailly, René Auberjonois, Emile Chambon, Alexandre Cingria, Fernand Dubuis, Angel Duarte or Gottfried Tritten. This is an opportunity to make better acquaintance with the artist’s collec-tion and all it has to offer.

The animated image

A short film will be presented as part of the exhibition. Jean Reusser, who made the film, and Jacques Domenique Rouiller, who pro-duced the image and the interviews, drew on various contributions featuring three of the painter’s children, Veronique, Bernard and Denis. In addition, Pietro Sarto, Isabelle Tabin-Darbellay, Fran-çoise Carruzzo and Jean-François Reymond contribute their views as artists, while Diane Bennent and Marianne Rochat-Held talk of their experiences as models. Oswald Ruppen, as an inspired photographer, talks of his visits to the Zambotte studio.

Exhibition organiser: Mr. Jacques Domenique Rouiller

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Fondation Pierre Gianadda
Rue du Forum 59
1920 Martigny
Switzerland
TEL : (+41) 27 722 39 78
info@gianadda.ch
www.gianadda.ch/