Elvezia Michel-Baldini

Elvezia Michel ( born August 17, 1887 in Lisieux, Calvados / Normandy, France, † June 14, 1963 in a hospital in Flin Soglio, Bergell, Switzerland ) was a Swiss painter, illustrator, book illustrator, Kunstweberin and philanthropist whose artistic masterpieces from the period 1902-1915 were only made ​​in 1993, thirty years after her death, the contemporary public.

Life

Michel grew up in a wealthy family, had the mother's previous generations with savings from sugar bakery and coffee house businesses a three-story house in Borgonovo in Bergell, the Valley of Giacometti's built in. As a child, Michel lived first in Lisieux, where the parents had emigrated to operate together with the brother of the father, a confectioner, and at their return to Switzerland from the age of 7 in Davos (Graubünden), the place of origin of the father, two years later, in 1896, died. The school she graduated first in Davos, 1902/1903 she attended the school for girls in Aarburg. In this environment, Michel artistic talent was discovered, promoted and trained from then on. With 17 years Elvezia Michel took first from autumn 1904 to spring of 1905 drawing and painting lessons at a locally well-known portrait painter in the environment of the northern Italian Art Academy Brera ( Milan) and then lived alternately in Lisieux, Davos and Borgonovo. There followed an intensive artistic phase in Western European cities: From 1907 to 1910, Michel was enrolled at the Women's Academy of the Munich artists association, from 1910 to 1912 she lived in Paris, where she probably studied at the Académie Ranson, in winter 1912/1913 she attended courses the Central School of Arts and Crafts ( London). Then she was married from 1914 to 1930 with Giuseppe Mascarini, her ten- year-older first drawing teacher, and lived in Milan, where she regularly attended the Scala and the theater. The summer months spent Michel mostly at her mother's house in Bergell until they moved their center of life from 1930 all the way to Borgonovo. Your divorce process dragged on for four years.

In Borgonovo Michel spent a further 33 years of her life. With mid-40s she acquired her new profession of art weaving in the class of Kunstweberin Schulthess in Ascona ( the early 1930s ). In her mother, who died in 1951 at the age of 87 years house, Michel - Baldini set up a studio for woven goods. They used linen from the flax fields of Alp own Pila at Maloja and wool from the Bergell for her work. Artist friendships she used particularly with the painter Hanny Bay (1885-1978) of Bern as well as the artist and singer Emilia Gianotti (1901-1984) from Stampa. Michel lived very close to nature and in close contact with the valley inhabitants. She was also musically talented ( she played keyboards and guitar and sang soprano). Multilingual, with Bergeller and Engadine dialects as well as Swiss German, grew up, she dominated beyond French, Italian, German and English. Into old age, they occasionally visited for a long time her older sister Anna in Davos. Michel was 76 years old.

Work

The 1991 brought to light in drawing and painting oeuvre Michel - Baldini includes approximately 25 oil paintings, 70 watercolors and 700 sketches. Were known at that time already their grass weavings of the later years, including a tapestry " La vraie religion" of 1943 (99 x 75 cm ) on which in a neat oval a female figure is seen with wings that rose in his left hand holding an open book in which she looks ( Ciäsa Granda, Stampa ).

Michels work ranges in portraiture of subtle, understated character studies of the first year on psychologically trained portraits and nudes (Munich 1910) up to time-critical - expressionistic acting human representations that are often inspired from the performing arts of their time in Paris. Their techniques are varied and there are next to work in red chalk and oil and watercolors, from which impressive Frauenportrais arise. Also striking Salomé illustrations are preserved in sketch and final version in ink on paper. In addition, Michel - Baldini dealt with bookbinding and book decoration, for which they made ​​a big shapes and drew repertoire of motifs ( in London partly inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites ). Around 1915 Michel - Baldini worked on the decoration of the small hall ( " saletta " ) of the mother's house in Borgonovo, which was designed primarily with female characters and is in part in large-scale gouaches of rich color plots.

The versatile oeuvre of the artist waiting for a critical appraisal.

Retrospective exhibitions

Swell

• Dora Lardelli: A talent searches tirelessly. About the work of Michel Elvezia. In: Cultural Archives Upper Engadin, Samedan (ed.): Elvezia Michel 1887-1963. Publisher Grisons Monatsblatt, Chur, ISBN 3-906343-04-0 ( ISBN formally wrong ), pp. 20-24. ( At the same time the exhibition catalog " Elvezia Michel " in the Ciäsa Granda, Stampa, Bergell, June 1 to October 1, 1993)
• Dora Lardelli: On the trail of a cosmopolitan woman. Biography of Michel Elvezia 1887-1963. In: ibid. Pp. 13-15.
• Andrea Tognina: Elvezia Michel: La riscoperta di un'artista. In: La Scarìza: periodico d' informazione, cultura, animazione. Associazione la Scarìza. brusio; [ poi ] Poschiavo: La Scarìza, ottobre 1993, p 13

• Painter ( Switzerland )
• Graphic Design ( Switzerland )
• Swiss
• Born in 1887
• Died in 1963
• Woman