Lot 8: Giannino Marchig (1897-1981)

Natura morta di mele
signed and dated 1932 (lower right)
oil on canvas
80.5 x 100.5 cm. (31 5/8 x 39 5/8 in.)

Venice, XVIIIth International Biennale, 1932, listed in the catalogue p. 139, no. 10.
Trieste, Stazione Marittima, Marchig, Esposizione antologica, 1980.
Geneva, Musée de l'Athenée, Peintures et dessins de Giannino Marchig, 1991.
Trieste, Civico Museo Revoltella, Marchig, 2000, no. 47, illustrated in colour in the catalogue, p. 74.
Florence, Museo Marino Marini, Giannino Marchig, Il sentimento del tempo, 9 June - 23 July 2000.

For over thirty years, Giannino Marchig worked as a painting restorer in Geneva, where he had settled in 1961. It was only following his death, in 1983, that his own artistic production became known to the greater public. Two important exhibitions of his works were organised at the Musée d'art et d'histoire of Geneva (1985) and at the Gabinetto dei disegni e stampe degli Uffizi in Florence (1994). Since then, the appeal of his paintings has been widespread among private collectors and public museums alike.

Born in Trieste in 1897, Giannino Marchig received a formal training in drawing and painting in his home town from Bruno Croatto and Gino Parin. In 1915, he moved to Florence, where he pursued his particular interest in drawing and painting with a model. He also developed a keen interest in the history of art, befriending, among others, Bernard Berenson. His numerous drawings of the Tuscan countryside reveal a desire to explore the visual with intense accuracy of light and structural detail. In 1920, Marchig led the drawing classes at the Academy of Florence and participated in the most pretigious art events of Italy (Stibbert Prize in 1920; 13th Biennale of Venice in 1922; Ussi Prize in 1924). In the mid-1930s, with the rise of Fascism, Marchig became disillusioned with the contemporary art scene and suddenly put an end to his flourishing career as an artist. Following the end of the Second War, Marchig began working as a restorer of paintings. His many visits to Switzerland during the war led him to decided to settle there more permanently. In 1949, he moved to Lausanne, where he found a more peaceful environment to pursue his work as a restorer. In 1961, his move to Geneva offered him the possibility of working closely with the Musée d'art et d'histoire de Genève. In 1969, on the instigation of his wife Jeanne Marchig and inspired by the Carneval of Basel, Marchig returned to the easel. Scenes from the Commedia del Arte dominate this last period of production, a theme of enduring predilection for the artist. A first important retrospective exhibition was organised in 1980 in Trieste, three years before his death.

In 1989, in memory of her late husband, Madame Marchig established the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust. This UK registered charity (no. 802133), based in Scotland, aims to protect animals against cruelty and suffering, to encourage research in animal pain relief, and to promote animal welfare both nationally and internationally. The charity operates through the distribution of grants and awards to outstanding individuals and organisations in the fields of alternative methods to animal testing and work leading to significant improvement of animal welfare. Proceeds from the sale of the following collection of works by Giannino Marchig will be given to the Trust.
For further information, visit the website: www.marchigawt.org, or send an e-mail to: info@marchigtrust.org

Mrs Giannino Marchig.

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