Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his

kinetic art Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...

sculptural machines (known officially as

Métamatic In the mid-1950s Jean Tinguely began production of a series of generative works titled Métamatics: machines that produced art works. With this series of works Tinguely not only problematised the introduction of the robotic machine as interface ...

s) that extended the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

tradition into the later part of the 20th century.Chilvers, Ian; Glaves-Smith, John (2009). ''A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. p. 709. ISBN 978-0-1992396-6-5. Tinguely's art satirized

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

and the technological

overproduction In economics, overproduction, oversupply, excess of supply, or glut refers to excess of supply over demand of products being offered to the market. This leads to lower prices and/or unsold goods along with the possibility of unemployment. T ...

of material goods.

Life

Born in

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

, Tinguely grew up in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. From 1941 to 1945, he studied under artist

Julia Ris Julia Ris (21 September 1904, Kingston upon Hull – 16 December 1991, Basel) was a Swiss painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. She taught materials and drawing at the Gewerbeschule Basel, where she introduced students, including Jean Ting ...

at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel, where he encountered the work of

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, Constructivism (a ...

and other

Dadaists Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had ...

, which later influenced his kinetic constructions. He moved to France in 1952 with his first wife, Swiss artist

Eva Aeppli Eva Aeppli (2 May 1925 – 4 May 2015) was a Swiss artist. Personal life Born on 2 May 1925 in Zofingen, Switzerland, Aeppli spent her childhood in Basel where she attended the School of Decorative Arts. Her father was a Waldorf educator and c ...

, to pursue a career in art. He belonged to the Parisian

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

in the mid-twentieth century and was one of the artists who signed the New Realist's manifesto (''Nouveau réalisme'') in 1960. Tinguely by Wolleh

His best-known work, a self-destroying sculpture titled ''

Homage to New York ''Homage to New York'' was a 1960 kinetic artwork and performance by Jean Tinguely. Description ''Homage to New York'' was a kinetic artwork composed of found mechanical parts including multiple bicycle wheels, a weather balloon, a piano, ...

'' (1960), only partially self-destructed at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, although his later work, ''Study for an End of the World No. 2'' (1962), detonated successfully in front of an audience gathered in the desert outside

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Then in 1961 Tinguley's work was included in the landmark "Art of Assemblage" exhibition at MoMA curated by

William C. Seitz William Seitz (June 14, 1914 – October 26, 1974) was an American art curator associated most closely with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City and known for the landmark exhibitions he curated and wrote catalogue essays for there on ...

. Seitz said of Tinguely in the exhibition's catalogue hat his..."most recent work, influenced by

Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954� ...

and Stankiewicz, fuses the tradition of kinetic art with that of assemblage".... Tinguely married fellow Swiss artist Eva Aeppli in 1951. In 1971, he married his second wife

Niki de Saint Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle (; born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle; 29 October 193021 May 2002) was a French sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monumental sculp ...

with whom he collaborated on several artistic projects, such as the ''Hon – en katedral'' or ''Le Cyclop''. Tinguely and Saint Phalle collaborated artistically for over three decades. Tinguely died of heart failure in 1991 at the age of 66 in the

Inselspital The Inselspital, also named the University Hospital of Bern (German: ''Universitätsspital Bern''), located in Bern, is one of the five university hospitals of Switzerland. It is associated with the University of Bern. The hospital is operated ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Legacy

There have been three major retrospectives of Tinguely's work in the last few decades, firstly in 1987 at the

Palazzo Grassi Palazzo Grassi (also known as the Palazzo Grassi-Stucky) is a building in the Venetian Classical style located on the Grand Canal of Venice (Italy), between the Palazzo Moro Lin and the campo San Samuele. History First owners During the 16th ...

In 1987 in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, secondly the "Jean Tinguely: Machine Spectacle" at the

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

which ran from October 2016 until March 2017, and thirdly at the Hangar PirelliBicocca in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

from the fall of 2024 into the early winter of 2025.

Public works

* '' Chaos I'' (1974), sculpture in The Commons,

Columbus, Indiana Columbus () is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 50,474 at the 2020 census. The city is known for its architectural significance, having commissioned noted works of modern architect ...

, US * ''Le Cyclop'' outside of

Milly-la-Forêt Milly-la-Forêt () is a commune in the Essonne department in the Île-de-France region in northern France. Geology The Forest of Fontainebleau, in the western end of which Milly-la-Forêt lies, is composed of the Oligocene Fontainebleau sand ...

. * The '' Stravinsky Fountain'' (fr: La Fontaine Stravinsky) near the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1983), a collaboration with

. * Carnival Fountain (''Fasnachtsbrunnen'') (1977) in

. * Tinguely Fountain (1977) in Basel. * Lifesaver Fountain on Königstrasse in Duisburg, Germany, a collaboration with

* Jo Siffert Fountain (commonly called Tinguely Fountain), Fribourg, Switzerland * ''La Cascade'', sculpture in the Carillon Building lobby,

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, US *

generative sculptures (1950s) * ''Luminator'' (1991), on loan until 2014 to the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse * ''Heureka'', (1964) "Zürihorn" at Zürichsee, Zürich Switzerland

''Hon – en katedral''

''Hon – en katedral'' (Swedish: "She, a Cathedral") was an

art installation Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often cal ...

made in collaboration with Niki de Saint-Phalle that was shown at the

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...

in Stockholm in 1966. The exhibition consisted of a sculpture of a colorful pregnant woman lying on her back with her legs wide apart. The sculpture was 25–26 meters long, about 6 meters high and 11 metres wide. It was built of scaffolding and chicken wire covered with fabric and fiberglass, painted with brightly coloured poster paint. Through a door-sized entry in the location of the woman's

vagina In mammals and other animals, the vagina (: vaginas or vaginae) is the elastic, muscular sex organ, reproductive organ of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vulval vestibule to the cervix (neck of the uterus). The #Vag ...

, visitors could go into the sculpture. Inside was a screen showing

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

films, a goldfish pond, and a soft drink vending machine. Johann Sebastian Bach's organ music played through speakers. The exhibition was created by Saint-Phalle, Tinguely, and Per Olov Ultvedt. It had 80,000 visitors during the exhibition period from 4 June to 9 September 1966.

Noise music recordings

* 1963 "Sounds of Sculpture", 7", Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan_ inguely's sculptures recorded by avant-garde composer Toshi Ichiyanagi during Japanese exhibition* 1972 'Méta', book+7_, Propyläen Verlag, Stockholm * 1983 'Sculptures at The Tate Gallery, 1982'_, Audio Arts cassette * 1983 'Meta-Harmonie H' incl. in ‘Meridians 2_ compilation cassette, Touch * 1994/5 'Bascule VII', 10”, Manhood Records 002 * 2001 'Relief Meta-Mechanique Sonore I' incl. in 'A Diagnosis' compilation, Revolver-Archiv für Aktuelle Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Influence on others

* In Arthur Penn's ''

Mickey One ''Mickey One'' is a 1965 American neo noir crime film starring Warren Beatty and directed by Arthur Penn from a script by Alan Surgal. Plot After incurring the wrath of the Mafia, a stand-up comic (Warren Beatty) flees Detroit for Chicago. He s ...

'' (1965) the mime-like Artist (Kamatari Fujiwara) with his self-destructive machine is reminiscent of Tinguely *

Survival Research Laboratories Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) is an American performance art group which pioneered the genre of large-scale machine performance. Founded in 1978 by Mark Pauline in San Francisco the group is known in particular for performances where custo ...

, directed by Mark Pauline (USA) * Prominent kinetic sculptor

Arthur Ganson Arthur Ganson (born 1955) is a Kinetic art, kinetic sculptor. He makes mechanical art demonstrations and Rube Goldberg machines with Existentialism, existential themes. His moving sculptures have been exhibited at a number of science museums an ...

described Tinguely as his "primary spiritual artistic mentor", and paid homage to him in his work "Tinguely in Moscow".

Gallery

File:Jean Tinguely's parade at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.jpg, Tinguely, ''Machines - Le Transport'', early 1960s; scrap metal components File:SE - Stockholm - Gears - 2009-07-15 (4891114084).jpg, Tinguely, ''Gears'', 1967; scrap old metal components (part of ''Le Paradis Fantastique'') File:2015 Chaotic Tuesday.jpg, Tinguely, ''Chaos I'', 1971–72; scrap metal components File:Tinguely Grosse Spirale.jpg, Tinguely, ''Large Spiral'', 1971–73; steel-plates File:Heureka (Jean Tinguely) - Zürichhorn 2013-04-13 16-21-43 (P7700).JPG, Tinguely, ''Heureka'', 1972–73; scrap metal components File:Heureka Zurich 02.jpg, Tinguely, detail of ''Heureka'', 1972–73; old components File:Basel Tinguely vor Museum.jpg, Tinguely, one piece of ''Carneval Fountain'', 1977; location: in front of

Museum Tinguely The Museum Tinguely is an art museum in Basel, Switzerland that contains a permanent exhibition of the works of Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely. Located in the Solitudepark by the Rhine, the museum was designed by the Ticinese architect ...

, Basel File:Tinguely in Kunsthal Rotterdam 14.jpg, Tinguely, ''title unknown'', late 1970s; scrap metal components File:Tinguely-Jo Siffert Fountain Fribourg Aug 2010.jpg, Tinguely, ''

Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Siffert won two Formula One Grands Prix across 10 seasons. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert ...

Fountain'', 1984; scrap metal components File:Jean Tinguely, Press pour oranges in Louvre Abu Dhabi.jpg, Tinguely, ''Press pour oranges'' in

Louvre Abu Dhabi The Louvre Abu Dhabi (; ) is an art museum located on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It runs under an agreement between the UAE and France, signed in March 2007, that allows it to use the Louvre's name until 2047, and has ...

References

External links

Tinguely-Museum in Basel
*https://web.archive.org/web/20060210001214/http://www.art-public.com/cyclop/cyclop_g.htm *videos: Tinguely's kinetic fountains i
Basel
an
ParisMétamatic Research InitiativeLecture by Kaira Cabañas (PhD, Princeton University) ''Homage to New York: Jean Tinguely's Destructive Art'' delivered 20 November 2008 in New York City
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tinguely, Jean 1925 births 1991 deaths Neo-Dada People from Fribourg 20th-century Swiss artists 20th-century Swiss sculptors 20th-century Swiss male artists 20th-century Swiss painters Swiss male painters Swiss contemporary artists Nouveau réalisme artists 20th-century sculptors Swiss modern sculptors Swiss expatriates in France