An exhibition in Switzerland on Sylva Galli, early 20th century painter who died at only 23 years old

The Pinacoteca Cantonale Giovanni Züst in Rancate (Canton Ticino, Switzerland) is hosting from March 26 to September 8 Sylva Galli (1919-1943) and the women artists of her time, an exhibition that is part of the strand of exhibitions dedicated to women artists, to which the Pinacoteca has always reserved special attention, and aims to collect the main works created by Sylva Galli, returning a’well-rounded image of her career and comparing her with other presences active in the same years. Sylva Galli, originally from Bioggio, developed her artistic career over a short span of time due to her untimely death at the age of only 23 in 1943.

After training at the Lugano Drawing Schools, she attended the Technicum in Fribourg and theAkademie Wabel, a private school of nude and landscape painting opened in 1939 in Zurich in the studio of Henry Wabel (1889-1981), thus orienting her painting outside the Ticino area as well.

The genres she treated ranged from still lifes to portraits to landscapes, interiors and nudes, in which she expressed an already mature artistic vein despite her young age.

Two of her works are preserved in the collections of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, one in the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome; the others, with the exception of a few important pieces owned by the Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana (Lugano), are still kept by her descendants.

Sylva’s works are flanked by a selection of paintings made by other women painters of her time as a complement and useful comparison. The choice has fallen on those who devoted themselves to artistic activity by attempting to make it a profession, moving from more than just self-taught studies and participating in exhibitions: Anna Baumann-Kienast, Regina Conti, Rosetta Leins, Margherita Osswald-Toppi, Irma Giudici Russo, Anita Nespoli, Anita Spinelli, Mariangela Rossi, Irma Bernasconi-Pannes, Adelaide Borsa. A special section is dedicated to Germaine and Simonetta Chiesa, Pietro Chiesa’s wife and daughter, respectively.

In the room from which the tour starts, as an ideal premise, works by the few women with academic studies who devoted themselves to art not only for pleasure belonging to previous generations are also presented: Adelaide Pandiani Maraini, Valeria Pasta Morelli, Marie-Louise Audemars Manzoni and Giovanna Béha-Castagnola. A non-philological reconstruction made with objects of the time is also offered, with the intention of giving a taste of the themes related to women’s work. Two dresses designed by Rachele Giudici, a passionate scholar of traditional costumes still associated with the 19th century, although her life took place mainly in the 20th century, are particularly displayed.

The research and study work is documented through a richly illustrated catalog, which aims to offer a first glimpse of significant figures to reconstruct the evolution of the female presence in the artistic field as well.

For all information, you can visit the Pinacoteca’s official website.

An exhibition in Switzerland on Sylva Galli, early 20th century painter who died at only 23 years old

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