Sils Museum, Sils

Quiet views: A tribute to the painter Andrea Robbi (1864-1945)

The solo exhibition of the painter from Sils shows the diversity of his work, sheds light on the existential roots of art in his life and opens up unexpected perspectives on his work. Andrea Robbi (1864-1945) grew up in Italy before attending school in Graubünden. His artistic path took him to the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, then to Paris for three years, where Giovanni Giacometti and Cuno Amiet were among his companions, and then on extensive study trips. After his return to Sils, he increasingly distanced himself from the art world.

Robbi's work derives its intensity from his concentration on color, the simplicity of his virtuoso pictorial language and the intimacy that opens up access to his emotional world. In this lies an authenticity that reveals his doubtful introspection, his loneliness and melancholy. At the same time, the pictures bear witness to his connection with the harsh landscape in which he recognized himself and the simple way of life of the people in his village. He stopped painting in 1898 and withdrew from life outside his home for 47 years. His work remained forgotten for a long time. Today, forty years after his rediscovery, the collection of the Sils Museum is being reassessed by curator Barbara Liebster in the light of current knowledge and expanded by objects, photographs and information.