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 Arnold Geissbuhler  (1897 - 1993)

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Lived/Active: Massachusetts      Known for: figure sculpture, art instructor
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:

The following biography was submitted in April of 2006 by Al Kochka, Geissbuhler Project Director, Cape Cod Museum of Art:

Research on Arnold Geissbuhler’s life (1897-1993) indicates that serious recognition for his art is long overdue.  He lived a lifetime of intense art activity that began in Zurich, took off in Paris and culminated in the U.S.A.including Cape Cod, New York City and the Boston area.  He produced an extensive body of work including sculpture and drawings that spanned the entire 20th century. His oeuvre reflects the changing attitude in how sculpture has become accepted while his own individual style developed.

The main themes and expressions of his art include portrait sculpture; family life; war; influence of Cubism; Religion; the W.P.A.; impact of city life on culture; birds ; and, female forms in large abstract and figurative creations.

Arnold Geissbuhler was an innately private man whose world centered on his art, family and teaching.  He eschewed the social world of art and the fawning that may be found there.  He frequently would not show up at gallery openings that featured his work.  In spite of this characteristic he sold pieces frequently from 1938 on until his death in 1993.

His shyness had a humorous side that can be found hidden in his abstract sculpture produced in his later years.  In the Swiss language, the name Geissbuhler roughly means “goat herder”.  So Geissbuhler devised an exaggerated sculptural “U” that he called “goat horns”.  This became, to him, his trademark.  These horns are not attached to an animal form but are incorporated as an abstract symbol or element in his designs.  When you find one in a work then you are engaged in a subtle Geissbuhler “joke”.

Geissbuhler met Alberto Giacometti at the Acadèmie de la Grande Chaumiére in Paris in 1922.  This was the school established and directed by Antoine Bourdelle.  Geissbuhler started there as a student but quickly rose to be Bourdelle’s massier and was running classes during the week while Bourdelle only came on Fridays to critique.  Geissbuhler also served as Bourdelle’s assistant in his studio, doing carving and working with Bourdelle in much the same manner that Bourdelle worked with and for Auguste Rodin.

Something else occurred, at the same time, which had a life-long impact on Geissbuhler.  Elisabeth Chase became one of his students at the acadèmie.  An American from Cape Cod, Elisabeth Chase, was not only a talented sculptor but  a scholar in French as well.  Bourdelle nicknamed her "petite angel".  Geissbuhler taught her and shortly fell deeply and completely in love.  Over 400 letters in French exist today, between them, and are in the process of being translated  They were married in Boston in 1927 and returned to France and traveled across Europe until the onset of the ‘‘great depression’’ forced them to return to the U.S.A...

Meanwhile Arnold and Alberto developed a friendship that became long lasting.  This included Arnold using Giacometti to pose as a model for a sculpture of a French soldier.  This work was ultimately featured in a World War I commission for the town of Somloire in France.  Geissbuhler carved the piece on site in 1924.  Giacometti attended the basptism of Geissbuhler’s daughter Mirande in St. Cloud, France along with Massimo Campigli, Germaine Richier, Otto Bänninger, and Milo in 1929 (all of whom developed noteworthy careers).  The exhibit “Giacometti, Marini, Flannagan and Geissbuhler” held in Washington, D.C. in 1950 brought their work together in a show for the first time.  The sketches of each other, that Arnold and Alberto made in Paris during their student days, were displayed as part of a massive exhibit, “The Students of Bourdelle” in Paris in 1960.  When Pierre Matisse (son of  Henri) hosted Giacometti’s opening at his gallery in New York City, Alberto insisted that he be allowed ‘private’ time with Elisabeth and Arnold the night before the opening at their home in the Greenwich Village section of New York City.

Wherever Geissbuhler found himself, he not only made art but he taught as well.  When he and his wife settled in Dennis on Cape Cod, he found employment at Wellesley College teaching drawing and sculpture for 21 years.

His family now numbered two daughters, Mirande and Christine.  The two daughters married and  became, respectively,  Mirande Holl and Christine Dupuy and then there were eight grandchildren.  Many of them have, one way or another, followed the muse of art as did their grandparents.  Sarah Holl (painter), Tina Nolan, (sculptor), Mary Peabody (decorative pottery), Kimberly (functional pottery), Mirande Dupuy Dewitt and Fielding Dupuy have both curated exhibits of their grandfather’s work and written critical essays for catalogues.

During his lifetime Arnold Geissbuhler was awarded many medals, “Best in show” honors, one man exhibitions, inclusion in groups shows; three retrospective exhibits and honors from the Swiss government.  The last decade of his life was spent organizing all the paperwork he and his wife had saved surrounding his career.  This material now fills nearly 6 reels of micro film on file at the Archives of American Art in Washington, D.C. and is being used to create a  monograph that should be completed and published by the end of 2006.  Arnold Geissbuhler was also listed during his lifetime in  "Whos Who in American Art" and "Mallett’s Index of Artists", 1935.

The travels that Arnold and Elisabeth pursued enabled them to become friends with many other artists.  Among these relationships were Salvatore Del Deo, Edwin Dickinson, Hans Hoffman, Howard Gibbs, Xavier Gonzalez, Chiam Gross, Karl Knaths, Ross Moffat, Anton Van Dereck, Frederick Waugh and those mentioned earlier.  Yet, his art remained very much his own expression.

The life and work of Arnold Geissbuhler needs to be made known to a larger audience and this museum is dedicated to that end.  Geissbuhler, Harry Holl and Roy Freed were instrumental in establishing the Cape Cod Museum of Fine Art which is now the Cape Cod Museum of Art.  The Cape Cod Museum of Art collection began when Arnold donated 39 of his pieces.  There is no better way for this museum to celebrate it’s 25th Anniversary of enriching lives than to honor Arnold Geissbuhler.

Sources: Cape Cod Museum: www.cmfa.org; Cape Cod Museum Founder's website: scargopottery.com
 


This biography from the Archives of AskART:

A Swiss-born sculptor, Arnold Geissbuhler was also an art instructor at Wellesley College from 1937 to 1958 and at the New York School of Design, 1929 to 1930.  He was trained academically in Paris at the Academie Julian and the Academie Grande Chaumiere, but moved away from Realism to Abstraction in his styles.

He lived abroad in Switzerland and Paris and also was in New York, Massachusetts and active on Cape Cod in Provincetown and Dennis. 

He was associated with well-known sculptor Alberto Giacometti and painter Edwin Dickinson, but little is known of his life.  In 1994 the then Cape Cod Museum of Fine Arts held an exhibition of his work.  The museum name was changed to the Cape Cod Museum of Art, and in 2005 Al Kochka held a lecture on Geissbuhler, which led to his appointment as head of a research project on Geissbuhler's life and career for the museum.

Still during his lifetime, Geissbuhler donated 39 works to the Cape Cod Museum of  Art, which was co-founded by his son-in-law Harry Holl.  Building on this collection, Museum organizers would like to acquire more of sculpture and launch a traveling exhibition of Geissbuhler's work.


Sources include:
Antiques and The Arts Weekly, November 25, 2005, p. 13 (The Bee Publishing)
Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art; additional information and corrections courtesy of Al Kochka.


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