Communicating the pleasure of tuning into nature: Giovanni Segantini

Abstract

Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899), a painter of rural tourist posters, saw his painting scorned by the critics of his time, which is one of the reasons for his transcendental contribution to painting and to the visual arts in general. This malicious consideration was a consequence of his extremely humble and defenceless situation, and his love for the rural environment and the mountains, where he tried to live as soon as he could return to them, together with his location outside the French and Anglo-Saxon axis which would have given him the value that other cultures immensely rich in artists and creators do not know how to promote and from whose oblivion only the great geniuses are saved, if they have had the good fortune to preserve their work for other generations and the judgement of time to do justice. This is the aim of the exhibition organised by the Fondation Beyeler, Basel, from 16 January to 25 April, which also vindicates his decisive role among the forerunners of the avant-garde, showing his works in the rooms of Renzo Piano's marked personality, for this museum and hung among others by Cézanne, Van Gogh and Rothko. A total of almost seventy paintings and drawings from all periods are on display.