Book –
Géa Augsbourg receives a short biography at Infolio
Died in 1974, the Vaudois marked his time with his paintings, his ceramics and especially his press drawings. He was well forgotten.
Published today at 12:43 p.m.
One of a thousand and a thousand drawings by the artist. He describes to us a Vaudois universe that has now disappeared.
Géa Augsburg Estate, screenshot.
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We had lost sight of him for a long time. Where is Gea? What about Gea? Who is Géa, anyway? At the time when Géa Augsbourg was working in his canton of Vaud, Art was not yet dizzying. The young shoots never succeeded one another year after year. There was therefore room for veterans, or even those who had recently died. We didn’t forget you right away. Had our man not left his mark on his country not only through his pictorial production, but through his collaborations with publications as popular as “L’illustré” or the mail-order “Catalogue Veillon”? A catalog that penetrated deep into the countryside to offer the latest in the city…
An overproductive
Born in 1902 in Yverdon, Georges Charles Augsbourg almost held his first pencil in his cradle. As a schoolboy, he drew constantly, to the despair of his teachers. At the age of 14, he met the illustrious Eugène Burnand, working in the open air. The click. The man later devoted himself to oil painting as well as watercolors or later to ceramics. All with a disconcerting profusion. This overactive never seems to stop, whether it’s eating or just breathing. Its exordiums will be modernist, in a canton which remained very little so. Their author will subsequently move on to figuration, with constant attention paid to rapid lines. An Augsburg remains above all a line running on paper. Hence the commercial temptation to work for the press, while mixing with decent people, from Pablo Picasso to the Belgians Constant Permeke and James Ensor. The short biography that Sylvie Costa Paillat devotes to the artist, in Infolio’s precious “Presto” collection, is like a notebook, if not worldly, at least artistic.
The cover of the book, with a self-portrait from 1940.
-Géa Augsburg Estate, Infolio.
For a long time, Augsburg’s career took place between his birthplace and Paris, where he had a workshop like many other Vaudois (Théophile Bosshard, Gustave Buchet, etc.). With the back and forth that this entails. With the differences in inspiration that this explains. The emigrant did not return definitively to Lausanne until 1952, becoming one of those local personalities who were not yet called “essential” at the time. He will still travel a lot. The Swiss went to China in 1959, when the country remained as locked as a safe. However, this did not discourage him from becoming the chronicler of the “National Exhibition” of 1964, which was being prepared and then taking place before his eyes. Switzerland was transitioning into modernity. It was necessary to bear witness to this.
Thousands of drawings
Died in 1974, Géa Augsbourg finds himself buried in a way at the Historical Museum of Lausanne. This preserves most of his graphic work. Thousands of sheets, which in my opinion is far too many in one place. It is Sylvie Costa Paillet who takes care of this heritage. She therefore brings it up knowingly. This is a first, general approach. It was appropriate to revive a name. Will there be a sequel? Difficult to predict. Art with a capital “A” does not like compromise with commerce. Hear here the popular press and advertising. And then the Vaudois world of the 40s and 50s seems as distant today as the Romans or the Burgundians. It’s from the past, at a time when the famous Generation Z barely talks about the present while looking intently at the future. Obviously there remain those who are nostalgic. But are there enough of them? Time will tell. In the meantime, read the book and discover Augsburg. It’s worth it.
Practical
“Géa Augsbourg, A life in images” by Sylvie Costa Paillet, Editions Infolio, Presto collection, 64 pages.
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Born in 1948, Etienne Dumont studied in Geneva which were of little use to him. Latin, Greek, law. A failed lawyer, he turned to journalism. Most often in the cultural sections, he worked from March 1974 to May 2013 at the “Tribune de Genève”, starting by talking about cinema. Then came fine arts and books. Other than that, as you can see, nothing to report.More info
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