Ernest Biéler, « Trois jeunes Filles de Savièse », 1920
pencil, watercolor and gouache , 31,5 x 39 cm. private collection
The Gianadda Foundation together with the Kunstmuseum Bern, presents a major retrospective, dedicated to the painter Ernest Bieler (1863-1948).
For the Fondation Pierre Gianadda this is an opportunity, after the exhibition of works by Edouard Vallet in 2006/2007, to reveal to the public another painter who chose the Valais as adopted home.
Ernest Biéler was born in 1863 in a bourgeois family. After attending high school in Lausanne Biéler 1880 followed the advice of Bocion François, who had discovered his artistic talent, and moved to relatives in Paris. There he studied at the Academie Julian and the Académie Suisse. He earned his living among others with the illustrations of novels of Émile Zola, Alphonse Daudet and Victor Hugo. His main interest however was the landscapes and people of the canton of Valais. The public learned about him in an exhibition at the World Expo 1889.
In 1889 Biéler settled down in Savièse, just above Sion. With other local artists, he formed the so-called school of Savièse, which described in a linear and decorative style the Valais landscapes and their inhabitants. At the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 he was awarded a silver medal and in the same year he was received in the Legion of Honour. In 1903 he co-founded the “Société des traditions valaisannes” which stood for the preservation of cultural traditions in the Valais.
Biéler received numerous public commissions for frescoes, stained glass and mosaics, including the Federal Palace in Bern, Jenisch in Vevey, the church of Saint-François in Lausanne, the City Hall of Le Locle and in the Great Council Hall of the Valais, Sion. In the years 1926 and 1927 he was a member of the Swiss Federal Art Commission.
This exhibition honors the artistic career of Ernest Bieler through the 120 works which come from many public and private collections. The artist will be seen not only as one of the folk painters of the Valais even if that is the most original part of his production.
Sources: Gianadda Foundation, Wikipedia
Fondation Gianadda
Rue du Forum
1920 Martigny
Switzerland
tel. 41 27 722 39 78
fax: +41 27 722 52 85
1st December 2011 – February 26, 2012
daily from 10 am to 18 pm
