Page 30 - Studio International - October 1965

G isiger Sculptor in steel

by R. V. Gindertael

Not yet fifty years have passed since sculpture entered I devoted a first study to his work more than ten years
into its 'iron age·. Up to then bronze which was ago in the journal 'Cimaise·. it was at this very time that
ductile enough to be worked in a variety of moulding Gisiger began to experiment with a new technique­
and casting processes had been the traditional material the forging of ferrous metal which was to become his
for the sculptor in metal. Iron was reserved for the favourite material.
gunsmith and industrial or ornamental uses. But con­ The main reason for this choice is no doubt the fact
temporary sculptors also turned to this metal: they that the new raw material offers fuller scope to the
learnt the craft of the iron-smith and became skilled modern sculptor to express his new preoccupations
at the anvil-a new type of sculpture was born. after scientific techniques have shattered notions of
While the new mode was soon brought down to a space since the beginning of the century; Gisiger
level of vulgarity by the many pseudo-artists who found himself emphasized this idea in his contribution to a
a facile compensation for their lack of real talent by general discussion on sculpture. The equal importance
collecting and welding junk. certain authentic sculptors given to material and empty spaces in the plastic
also turned to the new medium and to them we owe a definition of form and the necessity for a dialogue as it
considerable enlargement of plastic scope and a new were between the positive and negative elements
richness in artistic expression achieved along the lines resulting from the new concept of sculpture already
of the general evolution of our civilisation. Among these influenced Gisiger's early work as a sculptor in stone.
innovators. the Swiss sculptor Gisiger has made a But the restrictions inherent in this medium made it
profound impression by a powerful and intensely impossible for Gisiger to follow the development which
personal style. he wished. On the other hand his first experiments in
Gisiger was born in 1919 in Basle where. after ferrous metal confirmed that here he had found a
studying medicine. he attended the Ecole des Beaux­ material in which he could achieve his aims both on
Arts. and served his apprenticeship as a craftsman with the technical and also on the aesthetic level.
a former assistant of Rodin. His first exhibition was held When one has watched Gisiger at work it also seems
in 1947 and a second followed the next year in Paris. that the satisfaction derived from physical exertion and
He now lives near Lausanne but nevertheless regularly the exercise of strength of will play their part in his
pays long visits to Paris where he has exhibited several elective affinity with the art of metal-working; the
times both in Salons and in various galleries; exhibi­ means and the ends suit not only his temperament but
tions of his work have also been held in Switzerland also his thought processes. There is always a funda­
and Germany. mental guiding idea behind Gisiger's sculpture which
Although he worked first-with consummate crafts­ is based on three precepts: the notions of 'classicism·.
manship-in stone which was his main material when of scale and of honest craftsmanship.

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