144
PORTRAIl' OF AN OLD LADY,
To face p. 145.
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
equality, and peace, and I shall sow the seeds ©f discord,
iPxequality, and war. Every working-man knows this
by now, no one can ignore it.' The Government, then,
should take measures to prevent the discord that may
arise. Who knows but that France may not have
done this to sow the seeds of disunion on the territory
of neighbouring Powers. At any rate, Italy, a young
and vigorous nation, has nothing to fear. The helms-
man who holds the helm of the State, and who has
shown so much energy, tact, and prudence, will surely
not fail to find a solution even in this emergency.
"May I dare to suggest a remedy? I should like
to bring about two advantages and remove one evil."
Here follows the passage about the uselessness of
teaching art which we have already quoted. He
concludes thus : —
" You see, then, here are these large buildings (the
academies of art) going a-begging ; why does not the
Government set up factories and establishments for
decorative art in them, thus reviving a great part of
those arts which made Italy so great and so fair?"
This hatred of machinery and of modern '' improve-
ments " would have delighted the heart of Ruskin.
The idea of solving the labour question by closing
the art schools, and turning all the unemployed
workmen into them to make artistic furniture and
house decorations, is charmingly simple and ingenuous.
It reminds one of Marie Antoinette's recommendation
145
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
to the people of Paris, who had no bread, that they
should eat cakes. Two years later (the above letter
was written in 1889), he wrote in a very different
strain, evincing tendencies of an almost Socialistic
character.
" The ideas of Umam' (the pseudonym of an Italian
journalist) "are truly humane, but I do not think that
they are possible, or at least practicable. And these
are my reasons : —
"I do not think that we shall ever obtain peace
and abolish war while there is a National Parliament.
A National Parliament implies a fatherland, a father-
land implies a flag to be respected, and therefore to
be defended ; and so long as a rag of whatsoever
colour of this relic of barbarism, of this symbol of
brutal arrogance and conquest, continues to fly, we
shall be unable to prevent ourselves or our brethren,
by the mere force of argument, from rushing to destroy
each other barbarously, bestially. Men are made like
this, and we must take them as they are, and not as
we should like them to be. Consequently, all flags to
the stake, and down with every national party.
'' Moreover, I think that, to obtain peace, freedom
for all parties is necessary ; and the autonomy of com-
munes and provinces, so that they may live according
to their own laws, suited to their economical necessities,
and to the character of the inhabitants. They should
be free (by means of universal suffrage) to be monarch-
146
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
ists, republicans, socialists, anarchists, or even clericals ;
freedom and room for all tastes and all parties. An
international federation for each single party, with a
parliament of its own. An international federation of
all the communes and provinces for each party, with a
single parliament, to which every commune might send
one or more members, according to its population.
This would be the Parliament of Reason, the arbitrator^
in the interests of peace and justice, of the questions
that might arise between one commune and another,
or even in the case of internal troubles, and it would
have, if necessary, a small army to secure peace." *
The political ideal is further explained in the follow-
ing letter to Signor Martinelli : —
'' I have been reading your paper regularly for about
a year. I always find interesting articles and sketches in
it, but I have not yet found anything that answered
unequivocally to an individualistic liberal idea. When I
first saw the title of your paper [IJIdea Liberate), think-
ing over it in my solitude, I imagined a reunion of all
ideas that are not destructive tending to a single object.
The organisation of all of them for the freedom of each
one. No national party, but an international party.
This is the programme I evolved : autonomy of the
communes, a small council for each region — call it
province, canton, or kingdom, as you like best. Free-
dom, through universal suffrage, for monarchists,,
-'â– Levi's " Ciiovanni Segantini."
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
socialists, communists, or clericals. An international
federation of each party, each federation having its own
parliament, or a single grand international council.
Those parties who will not feel the need of a parliament
may do without one."*
Segantini's political views certainly evinced a ten-
dency towards Socialism at this time. Several writers
have in fact called him a Socialist. Among others,
Signor Claudio Treves, a Socialist himself, claimed the
artist as a member of that party. Signor Bermani in a
lecture on Segantini expressed the same view. " For
Giovanni was a Socialist of the most convinced type. It
was natural and logical that a man who felt intuitively
that art was the instrument of such a holy and sound
revolution of the capabilities of the soul, should turn
to a doctrine which offered in itself all the outward
signs and contained potentially all the germs neces-
sary, in appearance at least, for the union with that
spiritual capacity and that external finality which he had
imagined." At the same time, it is not, in our opinion,
possible to regard Segantini as an out-and-out Socialist.
He had a very genuine feeling for the sufferings of the
lower orders, and was ready to welcome any change that
would have brought about an improvement in that
direction. But he was not a revolutionist, and he was
not, so far as we can judge from his writings, in favour
of the abolition of property, nor of any other more or less
* Unpublished letter communicated by Signor Martinelli.
148
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
veiled confiscation. Moreover, he was above all things
tolerant of the opinions of others, and would have
allowed each political or social party to regulate its affairs
on its own lines ; whereas the Socialist admits but of one
party and one form of society, to whose laws everyone
shall be forced to conform, whatever his opinions may
be. In any case Segantini's views of these questions
must not be taken too seriously, as he had not the time
to think them out logically. But we should always
respect his motives ; his opinions were entirely derived
from commiseration of those who suffered and were
unhappy. He was a man of strong emotions and of deep
enthusiasms, and he loved his fellow men.
He was much interested in the question of the
position of woman, and alludes to it in two letters to
Signora Neera. " I thank you for having sent me your
article. What would you say to me if I were to tell
you that I have read it eight or ten times, that I have
been constantly thinking about it until this moment,
and cannot decide whether I think you are right or
wrong? I like woman when she is man's faithful
companion ; man feels the need of this his second soul,
that understands his own, that flatters his ideal, and
urges him onward towards honesty and duty ; but if
man is to be attracted towards his companion, and to
transmit his sentiments to her, it is necessary that
he should respect and esteem her ; and this the woman
may obtain if she be faithful to him and sensible in
149
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
her conduct. Love born of respect and goodness is
more enduring" than that born of mere physical beauty.
But if such women are to arise, it is necessary to give
them, by means both of good example in the family
and of words and books, a sound and well-ordered
moral and intellectual education, and above all to take
care of the health of the child and of the girl ; this
contributes more than anything to the development
of a character which is spiritually and physically sound.
But the present bourgeois education, on the other hand,
produces neurotic women, who instead of being good
mothers and good companions to man make first-class
flirts. Whose fault is it? In my opinion bad example
is the cause. A rotten tree cannot bear good fruit ; the
fault lies not with the fruit but with the tree. Is it
not so ? " *
Later he wrote : "I am following with interest
your struggle in favour of future humanity, although I
am convinced of the futility of your noble efforts.
Woman is instinctively preparing for the struggle in
the near future against man's brutal egotism. Woman
possesses in a higher degree than man certain qualities
common to both sexes, such as memory, taste, and
activity. Physical strength and creative genius are
produced mechanically, and to man remains the divine
instinct of creative work. The best men will help woman,
the others will let themselves be kept by her.
^ Unpublished letter communicated by Signora Neera.
150
Till-; sowi:
[To face p. 150.
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
" Up here in a little place called Soglio, where I
work for half the year, the mothers have very pretty
cradles which they fix on to their shoulders by means
of cross straps, carrying their children in them up
and down the mountain side and to the fields where
they work, and there they suckle their darlings and
kiss them in the pure air beneath the bright sun." *
The life led by Segantini was a curious one. Until
1894 he lived almost the whole year round at Savognino
and in the neighbourhood. He always painted out of
doors, save, of course, when he was engaged on an interior
scene or a portrait. He seldom, if ever, worked at his
landscapes in his studio. He really lived with nature,
and this is the secret of his greatness as a colourist and a
luminist. Afterwards, at the Maloja, he led a still more
outdoor life. Admirers who visited him in his house
were surprised at seeing hardly any signs that they were
in an artist's house, for, save for a few sketches and
drawings, there was not a picture to be seen. His
canvases were put into iron cases with doors opening
out like those of certain medieval altar-pieces, and carried
up the mountain side to the spot where he wished to
paint. He would work now at one composition, now at
another, according to the different lights and effects.
When he had done his day's work, he would shut up the
iron case and lock it, and leave it there until the next day,
or until the effect he desired returned. In the coldest
* Unpublished letter communicated by Signora Neera.
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
weather he would be found in the midst of ice and snow,
painting those grand Alpine panoramas which he loved
so well. Sometimes it was so cold that the colours froze
as he laid them on, and the brush left wrinkly ruts on the
canvas. To protect himself from the weather he wore
the thickest furs and cased himself in tin plates filled
with coals. The only thing he feared was the mist, for
when it arose it blotted out the whole landscape, and the
artist was condemned to forced inactivity. Then perhaps
he would do a little work in his studio — some black and
white studies, perhaps a portrait, or occasionally an orna-
mental design.
Segantini lived alone with his family — he had now
four children — and only saw a few friends from outside,
who in turn would now and again bring some enthusiastic
visitor from one of the hotels to see the artist in his
home.
The artist's successes in his later years, and the
startling originality of his works, aroused, as we have
seen, a considerable amount of opposition, to which
was added the jealousy of some of his less successful
confreres. On one occasion he was accused in a
newspaper article of having established himself at the
Maloja simply with the object of selling his pictures
to the wealthy foreigners who congregate there during
the summer months. He was furious at the accusation,
and wrote a spirited reply. As a matter of fact he
never sold any pictures save through his friend the
152
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
dealer, Signer Alberto Grubicy (the brother of the
painter). He did this, not because he was bound to
do so, but because Signor Grubicy had always bought
his pictures when he was poor and unable to make
any money ; he now continued to sell through him
even when he was famous and successful. He only
made an exception in the case of a drawing for the
central panel of the Triptych, which he sold directly
to Princess Bibesco. He wrote to Signor Grubicy : —
" I took this occasion to put things in their proper
light, both for you and for me. You must know
that you are supposed to buy my works for next to
nothing and sell them at high prices, and to spend
more in advertising me than you gave for the pictures
themselves. Others add that, in spite of all your
tricks, you are ruining yourself, and that I lend myself
to this game because I am bound by a contract. The
artists, as it suits their purpose, say even worse things,
and create round you a hostile and diffident atmosphere,
which is odious for me."* Segantini also sent his
friend a written statement for the latter to publish
over his own signature, in he which he declared that
Signor Grubicy had done nothing to advertise his
pictures or get them written up in the papers, that he
had always paid the prices which Segantini asked,
and had even lost on the sales on more than one
occasion. This declaration proves that Segantini was
'â– ' Unpublished letter communicated by Signor A. Grubicy.
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
always on excellent terms with Signer Grubicy. He
alludes to their long and unbroken friendship in the
following letter, written in reply to a telegram of good
wishes sent to him on his birthday : —
" I have been thinking much just now, as I am about
to enter my fortieth year, and I see that we have
been through many storms, and that often our boat
has been full of water and on the point of sinking ;
but as soon as we were out of danger, and there
was a little favourable wind, we rigged up a sail,
which we lowered the moment the wind changed.
And how many proud ships have we seen sink, both
financially and artistically, and we are still afloat,
although as regards money matters our boat is still
leaking. But what does it matter ? We have developed
our muscles, and have become strong, and if we continue
to work with confidence and hope, as we have always
done, we shall reach port safe and sound."*
During the last years of his life he was in the habit
of spending part of the winter at Soglio, a little village
above Promontogno in the Val Bregaglia, a few miles
from the Italian frontier. He generally paid a short
annual visit to Milan, to see some of his friends, to
arrange for exhibiting his pictures, and to give himself
a little change and rest. But from his hermitage he
sent down picture after picture into the cities of men —
Alpine scenery, peasants and cattle, winter snow scenes,
* Unpublished letter communicated by Signer A. Grubicy.
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
and lastly weird symbols and fantasies. These were
discussed, admired, and criticised from St. Petersburg
to New York, from London to Adelaide. But Segantini
remained indifferent to the comments of his critics,
whether they were favourable or otherwise. Here is
his own description of how he took one of his pictures
("The Home-coming") down to Milan from the
Engadine : —
" How I longed for my thick nailed boots in the
descent from the Maloja! To have to walk on a layer
of ice on a pitch dark night, without being able to see
an inch before you, is not particularly amusing. At
Vicosoprano everything was ready ; the only thing that
remained was to harness the horses, and that was soon
done. The post-master would not take the money,
so you will have to get Signor Torriani to pay it. At
the frontier the card for Signor Schuhmacher proved
very useful, and I was allowed to pass without much
trouble. At the customs, however, there was a group
of people who wished to see the picture ; as the case
was already unscrewed I let them satisfy their
curiosity. It was taken out and put down by the
roadside in the sunlight. The impression it made was
one of astonishment, which displeased me ; I should
have preferred to see them indifferent. At Chiavenna,
too, the card for Signor Dolcini was very useful, for
he came to the station with four porters and had the
picture at once placed in the luggage van, so that it
155
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
went by the same train as I did. There I received
many good wishes and congratulations, as usual 'for
the honour of Italian art.' .... Here in Milan, when
I unpacked the picture, I received the impression of
having produced an ugly, brutal, horrible piece of work,
but then it was carried out into the courtyard, and it
appeared again as we had known it before. I think that
I have succeeded in this painting in doing that which
I have always tried to do, i.e., to infuse into my work
a fascination which carries the eye and the mind of the
spectator out of himself and away from his own affairs,
so that he remains absorbed in the ideal ; for I noticed
in those who were looking at it the effort they made
to draw themselves away." *
Segantini was a most devoted husband and father,
and was worshipped by his family. Of his three boys,
two soon began to show that they had inherited some
of their father's artistic talent, and he began to give
them a few lessons. "I have enclosed the drawings,"
he wrote to a friend, "executed by my children in
their first week's lessons, in which I have left them
to do what they liked, to see what most impressed
them : you will judge of the result. Of course I have
only sent you the best ; but this system is of no use.
To-day I have attempted a method which I think is
the most natural ; it consists in projecting shadows
on to the wall by means of a lamp ; the shadow fixes
=>= Unpublished letter communicated by Signora Segantini.
156
MIDDAY 0\ Till'; AIJ'S.
[To face p. 156.
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
the outlines of objects such as I have sent you ; in
a few minutes there is a drawing, which makes them
jump for joy." *
He wished his children to have a more thorough
and regular education than he had had himself, and
he kept a tutor for them in the house. His choice
fell on a hard - working, studious young man, an
excellent Latin scholar. He also provided for their
being taught music, of which, as we have seen, he
was very fond. He sent his daughter to a boarding-
school in Milan, in spite of his reluctance to lose
her even for a comparatively short time. This is how
he describes a visit to her, after a separation of many
months : —
" I have just arrived from Maroggia. I reached this
last night in the rain, and it is still raining. I was
in the salon (of the boarding school), the one in
which they receive visitors, with settees all round,
and photographs on the walls : you know it well.
When Bianca (his daughter) entered she stopped still
on the threshold, smiling radiantly ; we gazed at
one another for an instant and then I embraced her, and
sat down with her on my knees, holding her close to me.
We were overcome by emotion, we did not speak lest
we should burst into tears ; I never realised as I did at
that moment how alike extreme joy and extreme sorrow
are. The Director talked to me about art, and drew me
* Levi's " Giovanni Segantini."
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
on to the balcony. Bianca has grown tall and very
strong ; in the school she is loved by everyone. . . I have
seen Madame Solischon, who is a charming and highly
cultivated old lady ; she told me that Bianca's readiness
of wit and clearness of mind are astonishing for a girl of
her age ; she says that her arguments are so sensible that
she is like an old woman of great experience." *
Besides being a good husband and father, he was
the truest of friends. All those who came in contact with
him preserve the pleasantest memories of his goodness
of heart, of his kindness and helpfulness, of his gentle
though strong and manly character. His was a most
loving and lovable nature. Not a harsh or un-
kind word is recorded of him. His sympathies were
most wide and liberal. He was of all men the most
simple in mind, and the most pure of heart. He
had no vices, and seemed hardly to know what evil
was. The great charm of his letters and writings lies
in the purity of feeling and the simplicity of nature to
which they bear witness. He was especially kind in
giving advice to young artists and others at the be-
ginning of their careers. Here is a letter to a painter
who had written to ask his advice : —
" I have received your nice letter. I thank you for
your confidence. I love souls that are simple, sincere,
and good : if you persevere in these qualities throughout
your life and in your art, you will succeed in all you
=<= Unpublished letter commiinicated by Signora Segantini.
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
desire. This world of ours is a forest of roses. You
do well not to enter it. Any little village to which
you may be sent will be beautiful for the enamoured
soul of an artist. Nature requires to be loved. The
more circumscribed your village is, the more fortunate
you will be. As soon as you are out with free nature,
you will begin to interpret the earth under your feet,
the little springs, the grass and the flowery bushes, the
stones, and then the trees in relation to the things
which surround them, then the animals in relation to
the things which surround them, then man in relation
to the things of nature, and to the animals : thus you
will proceed gradually from the beautiful interpretation
of particular objects in relation to light and colour to
fair and expressive forms, to noble lines which express
a thought, to noble sentiments.
" You say that your motto will be sadness ; that is
the most beautiful feeling in art, because sorrow, when
it is expressed with highly artistic sentiment, is the
sweetest pleasure of the soul. As you see, I approve
of your decision, and I hope that you may realise your
noble dream."*
We subjoin a letter to Signora Neera on the death
of their mutual friend Alberto Sormani at the age of
twenty-six : —
'' From an Alpine hut, my temporary abode.
" It were mere presumption to try to tell you how
* Unpublished letter communicated by Signora Segantiui.
GIOVANNI SEGANTINI
your brief piece of news has surprised, stupefied, and
pained me. Sorrows of this kind arise like mists from
the lake of the soul to the brain which is the rocky
summit of all our sorrows ; there they dissolve to
materialise and gush forth from our eyes like glittering
dewdrops, leaving in our being no more an agonising
pain, but a sense of emptiness, a grey undefined solitude.
When the first sensation is overcome and the lost friend
is called back to mind, we listen to the sound of his voice,
we see him moving in his accustomed manner which we
know so well ; the vision is short-lived and faint, but it
is the first balm. Were it not for our selfish anger at the
loss of one so dear and precious to us, what intense and
sad tenderness there would be in these sorrows, by means
of which our soul is permitted to commune with one who
is materially lost to us, but who in our memory lives
spiritualised by the mystery of death.
" It is a snowy day." *
On the same painful topic he wrote to Signor Grubicy:
" The news you have given me has made a most
painful impression on me. Poor young life of flowers !
All his words exhaled the perfume of serious intellect.
Thanks for the photograph, a reminder of an event
recalling the times which are no more." t
We shall now pass on to the last phase of Segantini's
art, with which his life closes, and examine his symbolic
work.
* Unpublished letter communicated by Signora Neera.
f P. Levi's " Giovanni Segantini."
160
CHAPTER V
SEGANTINI'S SYMBOLISM : HIS DEATH
WHEX Giovanni Segantini had been but
a few years in the Alps, while still at
Savognino, the symbolic note of his
character began to manifest itself
There was doubtless a certain amount of symbolism in
his earlier pictures : not to mention the first attempts in
this line, like "II Prode," such compositions as the
"Ave Maria," " Uno di Piu," and the " Mothers " series
may be regarded in a sense as symbolical. But what is
termed his symbolism proper is that peculiar character of
the works of the last phase in which some abstract idea is
represented by purely fantastic figures. Although these