Museum tinguely

Jean Tinguely (1925 – 1991)
The machine sculptures engage in a loud and multi-coloured conversation with the onlooker: Through his works, Jean Tinguely communicates and interacts with the spectator. The machine functions and becomes art. Tinguely’s artworks sparkle with wit, vitality, irony and poetry. Seen against a deeper background, though, they also reveal a feeling for tragicomedy, for theenigmatic and inscrutable.

#1: Jean Tinguely als Pfadfinder, ca. 1935, Fotograf unbekannt. #2: Jean Tinguely, ca. 1942, Fotograf unbekannt #3: Schaufenster von Jean Tinguely, Buchhandlung Tanner, Basel, Mai 1950. #4: Schaufenster von Jean Tinguely, Kost Sport, Basel, Mai 1949. #3 und 4: Fotos Peter Moeschlin

1925 – 1947
1925: Born on May 22 in Fribourg. Mother and child move from Bulle toBasel in July 1925. 1931 – 1940: Schooling in Basel. 1941 – 1944: Apprenticeship as a decorator. 1944: Attends courses at the School of Arts and Crafts in Basel. As of 1947: Frequents the circle of the Basel anarchist Heiner Koechlin.

#1: Eva Aeppli und Jean Tinguely, ca. 1958, Foto John R. van Rolleghem. #2: Mutter Tinguely mit Eva und Jean im Impasse Ronsin, Paris, ca. 1957 #3-5: Eva Aeppli imAtelier Impasse Ronsin, ca. 1958. #2-5: Fotos Hansjörg Stoecklin

1952 – 1954
October 1952: Moves to France with his wife Eva Aeppli. May 1954: Inauguration of his first exhibition at the Galerie Arnaud in Paris.

Installation views, Photos Galerie Denise René

April 1955
Together with Pol Bury, Soto, Calder, Vasarely, Calder, Duchamp and other artists, Tinguely takes part in theexhibition «Le Mouvement» at the Galerie Denise René in Paris, where kinetic art, for the first time, plays a major role.

#1: Jean Tinguely im Atelier Impasse Ronsin mit Horizontal II, 1954. Foto John R. van Rolleghem. #2: Jean Tinguely und Eva Aeppli, Paris, ca. 1960. Foto Robert Doisneau. #3: Eva und Jean im Atelier Impasse Ronsin, Paris, ca. 1956. Foto Hansörg Stoecklin. #4: Jean Tinguely imImpasse Ronsin, ca. 1958. Foto John R. van Rolleghem

1955
1955: At the beginning of the year Tinguely moves into a studio in the Impasse Ronsin; his neighbours are the sculptor Constantin Brancusi and other artists. Shows his relief «Méta-mécanique sonore II» in an exhibition at the Galerie Samlaren in Stockholm. Together with Pol Bury, Soto, Calder, Vasarely, Calder, Duchamp and other artists,Tinguely takes part in the exhibition «Le Mouvement» at the Galerie Denise René in Paris, where kinetic art, for the first time, plays a major role.

#1-2: Yves Klein und Jean Tinguely, Atelier Impasse Ronsin, 1958. Fotos Martha Rocher. #3-4: Niki de Saint Phalle und Jean Tinguely, Atelier Impasse Ronsin, ca. 1962. Fotos Vera Mercer

1955 – 1956
Meets Niki de Saint Phalle and Yves Klein.

#1:Jean Tinguely und Yves Klein, 1959. Foto Hans Haacke. #2: JEAN TINGUELY, Excavatrice de l'espace, 1958. Foto Martha Rocher. #3: Jean Tinguely, Yves Klein, Iris Clert, Werner Ruhnau, Bro, Jesús Rafael Soto in der Galerie Iris Clert, 1958. Fotograf unbekannt. #4: Ausstellung Vitesse pure et stabilité monochrome, Galerie Iris Clert, 1958. Foto Robert David

1958
Exhibits «Mes étoiles – Concert poursept peintures» in July at the Galerie Iris Clert. Shows the installation «Vitesse pure et stabilité monochrome» in the same gallery in November together with Yves Klein.

#1-2: Jean Tinguely beim Abwurf des Manifests, 1959. Fotos Charles Wilp. #3: Manifest für Statik

March 1959
Scatters copies of the manifesto «Für Statik» (For statics) from an aeroplane over Düsseldorf.

In derAusstellung «Méta-Matics de Jean Tinguely»: #1: Jean Tinguely mit Iris Clert. Fotograf unbekannt. #2: Jean Tinguely mit Marcel Duchamp. Fotograf unbekannt #3: Hans Arp. Foto Hansjörg Stoecklin

July 1959
Exhibition «Méta-Matics de Jean Tinguely» in the Galerie Iris Clert in Paris.

#1: «Cyclo-Matic-Evening» im ICA. Foto John Cox. #2: Vorbereitungen. Foto Richard Hamilton. #3: Mit Eva Aeppli, Foto...