The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Pine Tree

Pine Tree

c. 1897
(Italian, 1858–1899)
Italy, 19th century
oil on fabric
Framed: 149.5 x 84.8 x 4.1 cm (58 7/8 x 33 3/8 x 1 5/8 in.); Unframed: 135.2 x 72 cm (53 1/4 x 28 3/8 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1982.124
Location: 222 Impressionism & Post-Impressionism

Did You Know?

The bottom right portion of this painting was left unfinished; the earth-red ground layer is still visible.

Description

Segantini painted this view of a pine tree in the Swiss Alps with his distinctive combination of brilliant colors applied in small, broken strokes. Rather than a direct transcription of nature, the extreme close-up view and the flat, decorative space are designed to arouse an emotional response. Finding spiritual consolation in the lush forests and clear light around his home in the Alps, Segantini wrote: “I am now working passionately to wrest the secret of Nature’s spirit from her. Nature utters the eternal word to the artist: love, love; and the earth sings life in spring, and the soul of things reawakens.”
  • Until 1907
    (Galleria Alberto Grubicy, Milan)
    Probably until 1939
    Oscar Bernhard [1861-1939], Samaden/St. Moritz, probably by descent to his daughter, Annigna Petitpierre-Bernhard
    Probably 1939-at least 1973
    Annigna Petitpierre-Bernhard [1899-1978], Zurich
    Until 1982
    (Galerie Nathan, Zurich, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1982-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 In 1880 Segantini achieved some financial security when art dealer, critic, and painter Vittore Grubicy began buying his work.  Grubicy helped support Segantini, and within three years, the artist had signed an exclusive contract with Grubicy.  Their relationship ended in 1891 after a conflict between Vittore and his brother, Alberto, over how to manage the gallery. Segantini sided with Alberto, who had been controlling the financial aspects of Segantini’s contract with the gallery since 1886.  
    2 Bernhard, a friend of Segantini’s since 1894, was patron of the artist, as well as his physician when he came down with a fatal case of peritonitis in 1899. In 1908 Bernhard cofounded the Segantini museum in St. Moritz. 
    3 Petitpierre-Bernhard’s initials, “P.B.,” are inscribed in blue crayon on the back of the painting’s stretcher. 
  •  Quinsac, Annie-Paule. Segantini: catalogo generale. Milano: Electa, 1982.
    Grubicy, Alberto, and Mario Morasso. Catalogo delle mostre coll. ve Segantini [e] Previati; mon. to a Segantini di Leo. Bistolfi. [Milano]: [Tip. L.F. Cogliati], 1906. 
    Arcangeli, Francesco, and Maria Cristina Gozzoli. L'opera completa di Segantini.  Milano: Rizzoli, 1973.
    Fiori, Teresa. Archivi del divisionismo 2. Rome: Officina Edizioni, 1968.
    Galerie Nathan, invoice to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 5, 1982, in CMA curatorial file.

    Arcangeli, Francesco, and Maria Cristina Gozzoli. L'opera completa di Segantini.  Milano: Rizzoli, 1973.


    Quinsac, Annie-Paule. Segantini: catalogo generale. Milano: Electa, 1982.
    Fiori, Teresa. Archivi del divisionismo 2. Rome: Officina Edizioni, 1968.
    Fiori, Teresa. Archivi del divisionismo 2. Rome: Officina Edizioni, 1968.
    Arcangeli, Francesco, and Maria Cristina Gozzoli. L'opera completa di Segantini.  Milano: Rizzoli, 1973.
    Galerie Nathan, invoice to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 5, 1982, in CMA curatorial file.
    Locatelli-Milesi, Achille. L'Oeuvre de Giovanni Segantini. Paris: Soc. Dante Alighieri, 1907. Reproduced: opp. p. 12
    Montandon, Marcel. Segantini. Bielefeld, Germany: Velhagen & Klasing, 1925. Reproduced: p. 119, fig. 105
    Nicodemi, Giorgio. Giovanni Segantini. Milano: L'Arte, 1956. Mentioned: p. 225, no. 9
    Fiori, Teresa. Archivi del Divisionismo. Roma, Italy: Officina Edizioni, 1968. Reproduced: fig. 442
    Gozzoli, Maria Cristina. L'opera completa di Segantini. Milano, Italy: Rizzoli, 1973. Reproduced: no. 392
    Lüthy, Hans A., and Corrado Maltese. Giovanni Segantini. Zürich, Switzerland: Orell Füssli Verlag, 1981. Reproduced: p. 129
    Quinsac, Annie-Paule, and Giovanni Segantini. Segantini: catalogo generale. Milano, Italy: Electa, 1982. Reproduced: no. 530, vol. II
    Lee, Sherman E. "Year in Review for 1982."The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXX, no. 1 (January, 1983):3-55. Reproduced: p. 17, Mentioned: p. 51, no. 32
    Sackerlotzky, Rotraud. "Giovanni Segantini: Stone Pine and Alpine Roses." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXXIII, no. 1 (January, 1986): 2-13. Reproduced: cover, p.2,
    Bauman, Felix, Guido Magnaguagno, and Daniela Tobler. Giovanni Segantini, 1858-1899: Kunsthaus Zürich, 9. November 1990-3. Februar 1991. Zürich, Switzerland: Das Kunsthaus, 1990.
    Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. Reproduced: p. 220
    D' Argencourt, Louise, and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned and reproduced: vol. 2, p. 584-589, no. 206
    Echte, Bernhard, and Petra Cordioli. Kunstsalon Bruno & Paul Cassirer: die Ausstellungen 1898-1901 ; ["das Beste aus aller Welt zeigen"]. Wädenswil: Nimbus, Kunst und Bücher, 2011. Reproduced: p. 316
    Segantini, Diana, Guido Magnaguagno, and Ulf Küster. Segantini. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2011. Reproduced: p. 119
    Arendsee, M., and M. Steinman-Arendsee. "Take the CAN disability aesthetics tour, at the Cleveland Museum of art." CAN Journal (Winter 2019/20): 76-87. Mentioned: p. 83
  • Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    Giovanni Segantini. Fondation Beyeler, CH-4125 Riehen/Basel, Switzerland (organizer) (January 16-April 25, 2011).
    Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum, China (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).
    Giovanni Segantini. Kunsthaus Zürich, CH-8024 Zürich, Switzerland (organizer) (November 8, 1990-February 17, 1991).
    The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).
    Esposizione di alcune opere di G. Segantini. Milan, Italy (1899).
    Mostra Commemorativa di Giovanni Segantini. Palazzo Marchetti, Arco, Italy (1958).
    Graubünden in der Malerei des 20 Jahrhunderts. Kunsthaus, Chur, Switzerland (1954).
    Giovanni Segantini Gedächtnis-Ausstellung. Saint Moritz., Switzerland (1949).
    Exposition des peintres divisionnistes italiens. Serre de l'Alma, Paris,France; Gallerie Grubicy, Milan, Italy (organizer) (1907).
    Previati mon.to a Segantini di Leo Bistolfi. Galleria Alberto Grubicy, Milan, Italy (1906).
  • {{cite web|title=Pine Tree|url=false|author=Giovanni Segantini|year=c. 1897|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.124