Jean Tinguely
Jean Tinguely, 1961
Born(1925-05-22)22 May 1925
Fribourg, Switzerland
Died30 August 1991(1991-08-30) (aged 66)
Bern, Switzerland
Known forPainting, Sculpture
Spouses
PartnerMilena Palakarkina (1986–1991)

Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century.[1] Tinguely's art satirized automation and the technological overproduction of material goods.

Life

Born in Fribourg, Tinguely grew up in Basel, and in 1941-1945 studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule.[2] He moved to France in 1952 with his first wife, Swiss artist Eva Aeppli,[3] to pursue a career in art. He belonged to the Parisian avant-garde in the mid-twentieth century and was one of the artists who signed the New Realist's manifesto (Nouveau réalisme) in 1960.[1]

Jean Tinguely portrait by Lothar Wolleh, 1968
The Tinguely Fountain in front of the Tinguely Museum in Basel
Tinguely's Heureka in Zürich-Seefeld (Zürichhorn)

His best-known work, a self-destroying sculpture titled Homage to New York (1960), only partially self-destructed at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City,[4][5][6] although his later work, Study for an End of the World No. 2 (1962), detonated successfully in front of an audience gathered in the desert outside Las Vegas.[7]

Tinguely married fellow Swiss artist Eva Aeppli in 1951. In 1971, he married his second wife Niki de Saint Phalle with whom he collaborated on several artistic projects, such as the Hon – en katedral[8] or Le Cyclop.[9]

Tinguely died of heart failure in 1991 at the age of 66 in the Inselspital in Bern.

Public works

Hon – en katedral

Hon – en katedral (Swedish: "She, a Cathedral") was an art installation made in collaboration with Niki de Saint-Phalle that was shown at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm in 1966. The exhibition consisted of a sculpture of a colorful pregnant woman lying on her back with her legs wide apart. The sculpture was 25–26 meters long, about 6 meters high and 11 metres wide. It was built of scaffolding and chicken wire covered with fabric and fiberglass, painted with brightly coloured poster paint. Through a door-sized entry in the location of the woman's vagina, visitors could go into the sculpture. Inside was a screen showing Greta Garbo films, a goldfish pond, and a soft drink vending machine. Johann Sebastian Bach's organ music played through speakers. The exhibition was created by Saint-Phalle, Tinguely, and Per Olov Ultvedt. It had 80,000 visitors during the exhibition period from 4 June to 9 September 1966.

Noise music recordings

Influence on others

Gallery of Works

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b Chilvers, Ian; Glaves-Smith, John (2009). A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art. Oxford University Press. p. 709. ISBN 978-0-1992396-6-5.
  2. ^ "Jean Tinguely". The Art Story. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  3. ^ Leu, Aia (2012). The Art of the Leu Family. SeedPress. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-9551109-2-4.
  4. ^ "The Garden Party", report about Homage to New York (1960) by Billy Klüver, reprinted in: Pontus Hultén (ed.): The Machine as seen at the End of the Mechanical Age exhibition catalogue published by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1968, p. 168-171.
  5. ^ Museum Tinguely (23 May 2017). "Jean Tinguely, Homage to New York, 1960". Vimeo.
  6. ^ Yigruzeltil (12 April 2013). "Homage to New York." WikiArt.
  7. ^ L.A.S (18 August 2010). "Study for an End of the World No. 2". Sartorially Inclined.
  8. ^ NCAF (3 June 2016). "50 years since HON". nikidesaintphalle.org.
  9. ^ Vanessa [@treeswithknees] (19 December 2010). "Le Cyclop". Atlas Obscura.[unreliable source?]
  10. ^ Crowther, Bosley (September 9, 1965). "Film Festival: Heels, Old and New:1954 Movie Makes One Feel for Hero". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  11. ^ Ganson, Arthur (9 January 2009). "Tinguely in Moscow (in the Wind)". Arthur Ganson. Retrieved 21 February 2018.

External links

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