Giovanni Segantini: Forgotten Italian Modernist Gets Paris Retrospective
From April 29 to August 16, 2026, the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris will present "Giovanni Segantini. Je veux voir mes montagnes," featuring the works of Italian modernist Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899). Segantini, who was born in Arco, endured a difficult childhood marked by the loss of his mother at the age of seven and a life of poverty. After running away, he was sent to a correctional facility where his artistic abilities were recognized. He later attended the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and achieved early fame with "Ave Maria a trasbordo." As a forerunner of Italian Divisionism, he utilized this style in the Grisons. Despite his success, financial troubles plagued him, and he passed away from peritonitis at 41. The Segantini Museum in St. Moritz was established in 1908.
Key facts
- Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899) was born in Arco, on Lake Garda, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
- He was orphaned at 7, placed in a correctional institution at 12, and later studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera.
- His career was propelled by Vittore Grubicy de Dragon, a painter, critic, and gallerist.
- Segantini won a gold medal at the 1883 Amsterdam Universal Exposition for 'Ave Maria a trasbordo'.
- He adopted divisionist technique in 1886-87, becoming a key figure in Italian Divisionism.
- He died of peritonitis at age 41 on the Schafberg mountain in 1899.
- The Segantini Museum in St. Moritz opened in 1908, oriented toward the Schafberg.
- The exhibition at Musée Marmottan Monet runs from April 29 to August 16, 2026.
Entities
Artists
- Giovanni Segantini
- Vittore Grubicy de Dragon
- Gaetano Previati
- Angelo Morbelli
- Carlo Bugatti
- Guillaume Apollinaire
- Jean-François Millet
Institutions
- Musée Marmottan Monet
- Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera
- Riformatorio Marchiondi
- Segantini Museum
- Galerie nationale d'art moderne de Rome
- Aargauer Kunsthaus
- Biennale di Venezia
- Munich Secession
- Gazette des Beaux-Arts
- Connaissance des Arts
Locations
- Arco
- Lake Garda
- Austro-Hungarian Empire
- Milan
- Pusiano
- Brianza
- Savognin
- Schweiningen
- Grisons
- Piz Arblatsch
- Maloja Pass
- Engadine
- Schafberg
- St. Moritz
- Paris
- Amsterdam
- Vienna
- Munich
- Rome
- Caglio
- Borgo Valsugana
- Italy
- Switzerland
- Swiss mountains
- Maloja
- Mount Schafberg