Alexandre Perrier
Born in 1862.
Died in 1936.
Alexandre Perrier is presented as a Swiss painter whose work focuses on a small number of subjects, essentially landscapes and, in particular, mountain views. After graduating from the Collège de Genève in 1879, he embarked on a graphic practice that took him beyond the canton. In 1881, he worked in Mulhouse as a draughtsman for the textile-printing industry.
He moved to Paris in 1891, where he worked as a costume designer and fashion illustrator while regularly showing paintings at the Salon des Indépendants from 1891 to 1895. Shortly before 1900, he returned to Geneva and henceforth devoted himself to landscape painting; he also received a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900. In terms of international visibility, he exhibited at the Vienna Secession in 1902 and, in 1910, took part in the inaugural exhibition of the Kunsthaus Zürich as well as in an exhibition at the Musée Rath in Geneva.
In domestic terms, he initially worked in a room of his apartment at 25 Quai des Bergues, then, from 1909, set up a studio in Geneva’s Jonction district. His practice took place primarily in the studio: he painted from memories and sketches rather than outdoors, and consistently focused on light, which he regarded as essential to the essence of the painting. Around 1910, his manner evolved towards a more stripped-down style, marking a gradual emancipation of colour from drawing.
Actively involved in local artistic life, he was appointed president in 1917 of the Geneva section of the Society of Swiss Painters, Sculptors and Architects; his last known participation in an exhibition abroad was at the Exhibition of Contemporary Swiss Artists in Turin in 1926.
