LeCorbusier at Musée Rath, Geneva

Most of us have heard of Le Corbusier and many of us know of his outstanding works of architecture, but very few of us know the full breadth of his artistic genius – a genius probably only comparable to that found during the Italian Renaissance. Currently running in Geneva at the Musée Rath is the most comprehensive exhibition ever of his works – his paintings, sculptures, enamels, drawings, tapestries, and architectural models – from vast wall tapestries and energetic paintings (often also presented in three-dimensional form) to delicate architectural models and refined enamels – all giving us a sense of the veritable artistic inferno that was Le Corbusier.

For an insight into the creation of such an exhibition we spoke to M Jean-Pierre and Mme Naïma Jornod (who together conceived and organized the exhibition), and Gerard Kohler of Harsch Transports Fine Arts Department, which handled the complex negotiations for the many export and import licenses required for the exhibits, as well as their customized packing, transportation and installation at the Musée Rath.

 “The primary reason behind the exhibition, was to allow people to discover the hidden artist that was Le Corbusier,” says Naïma Jornod, “and to let people realize that he was as equally an important artist as he was architect. We wanted to show, through this exhibition, how his understanding of three-dimensional form was reflected in the synthesis between his paintings, sculptures, thoughts and architecture. As he said, ‘It is through my painting that I arrived at architecture. There is never just simply a painter, a sculptor, an architect, a thinker – three-dimensional design encompasses ‘one form’, to serve poetry’.”

“The catalogue,” adds Jean-Pierre Jornod, “was a work of passion, the conclusion of six years of working day and night to create a comprehensive catalogue of the works of Le Corbusier – the culmination of nearly 30 years of fervour for the subject for both my wife and me. Le Corbusier was an exceptional man – he could never have been considered as “ordinary” – he was the “Leonardo da Vinci” of our century – people are not aware that he was also an engineer and writer.”

“Getting all the exhibits together was very demanding,” says Gerard Kohler, “requiring the total commitment of a dedicated team from Harsch Transports and the Musée Rath. With so many lenders, more than 350 exhibits and the need for almost as many export licenses it was a fairly complex matter to bring all the exhibits together from their varied locations in time for the exhibition.”

This is the first time ever that it has been possible to discover and better understand the complete world of Le Corbusier. “His paintings give the best idea of the complete spectrum of his work,” says Naïma Jornod. “From 1918 to his death in 1965, his life is made up of five important periods: Purist, Objects, Women, Ubu – Ozon – Panurge, and Les Taureaux. The Musée Rath has just 1,000 sq m of exhibition space, and we had many paintings to exhibit, so we constructed a new wall in order to be able to hang all 140 paintings. This way we were able to display Le Corbusier’s artistic life in a way that does not tire the eyes of the visitors.”

“It has been a formidable challenge for everyone,” says Gerard Kohler. “Exhibits came from all over Switzerland and France. The Le Corbusier Foundation lent 40 exhibits, while the vast majority came from very varied locations. Some were lent by Swiss museums, others by friends of Le Corbusier and still others by an enormous variety of private collectors particularly in France. It is the challenge of transporting, packing and unpacking so many irreplaceable pieces and the need to create customized cases and supports to ensure the safe arrival of the exhibits that is fascinating. While we transport and pack many exhibitions and works of art we were all impressed by the wide variety and quality of the pieces in this exhibition, making it one of the most memorable we’ve ever had the pleasure to work on.”

“In putting together this exhibition,” concludes Jean-Pierre Jornod, “I believe we have followed the principles of Le Corbusier. He was a true Renaissance man. It is interesting that on his visiting card he put: ‘Man of words’, on his marriage certificate he wrote, ‘Artist/Painter’, he never called himself, ‘Architect’. He never studied at architectural college, even though he built his first building at 17 years of age. Interestingly, while he was in Paris he was only the second person ever to be awarded the elective title of ‘Architect’. So finally he was to enter architectural college, but as a professor …never as a student!”

The exhibition at the Musée Rath, Geneva, runs to 6 August 2006.