4.7.2012 – Issue 3 - On Giacometti – Concheiro Isabel – Studio, Essays

Physical Remains - The Giacomettis' Traces in the Bergell

by Isabel Concheiro

Crossing the Bergell valley, the memory of the Giacomettis is present through the way they have described the villages and the landscape: Giovanni Giacometti's landscape visions of the valley, the houses and gardens of Stampa painted by Augusto and the landscape reflected by Alberto from the window of the atelier.

Beside these landscapes that we can still recognize nowadays, there are also some physical remains of the family life in the valley: the family houses in Maloja, Borgonovo and Stampa, the tombs in the Borgonovo cemetery and specially the atelier in Stampa.

The atelier was an old barn beside the family house renovated by Giovanni, Alberto's father, and that later became Alberto's atelier during his yearly visits to Stampa. In the pictures taken at that time, we can see Alberto painting the Stampa landscape from the window of the atelier and portraits of relatives and friends. The traces on the floor reveal the specific positions he used to paint again and again what he called the “ever changing landscapes” of his homeland.