Curated by Francesca Benini and Cristina Sonderegger

Starting from a reflection of what may be defined artistically as Sublime, the exhibition traces the evolution of landscape painting. An expression of The Alpine Spirit inspired the artists featured to create their own interpretations of the mountain landscape and the reality that surrounds it. This spirit takes the forms of romance in Turner and Calame, in the use of colour in the works of Giacometti and Dudreville, it represents national identity in the works of Franzoni, Rossi and Foglia; and, finally, it becomes an historical document in the photographs of Donetta. These trends are reversed in contemporary art where representation of the Alps becomes ambivalent. Lutz and Guggisberg, for example, portray the mountains ironically in their assemblages, emphasising the stereotypes of their traditional representation, while Burkhard’s photographs restore a perfect balance between sentiment and history in the mountain landscape.