Raphy Dallèves
2028

The Project

Reopening a file. Repositioning a body of work.

The Année Dallèves 2028 has a dual objective: to place the work in the context of European Symbolism — where it belongs, alongside Vallotton, Hodler and the Swiss painters of Paris — and to produce the scholarly tools that are still missing: a catalogue raisonné, a critical publication.

The 150th anniversary is the only moment when the dispersed works can be brought together. Now, or in fifty years.

In 2028, Switzerland marks 150 years since the birth of Raphy Dallèves. The anniversary carries a compelling story: the museum his bequest was meant to establish in his name was never built. His works founded the museum for all Valaisans, then fell into what Elsig called "relative obscurity." 2028 is the moment to finish what was begun.

The Artist

A contemporary of Cubism who chose the Quattrocento.

Raphy Dallèves (Sion, 1878–1940) responded to European modernism not with rupture but with deliberate return: egg tempera, gold leaf, and the clear line of the Quattrocento, in service of the Alpine peasant world of the Val d'Hérens. Art historian Frédéric Elsig (University of Geneva) described him as a "modern primitive."

Trained in Paris (Académie Julian, École des Beaux-Arts, 1899–1905), he was elected associate of the Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1913 and represented Switzerland in Munich alongside Hodler, Amiet and Giacometti. At his death in 1940 he bequeathed approximately 200 works to the City of Sion and the Canton of Valais — the founding collection of the Musée cantonal des beaux-arts du Valais (1947).

"A modern primitive." Frédéric Elsig, 1999

Public Collections

A body of work distributed across major Swiss institutions.

Scholarly Foundation

An established bibliography, a catalogue to complete.

• F. Elsig, Raphy Dallèves. Un primitif moderne, Éd. du Verseau, Denges, 1999 — definitive monograph, catalogue of 61 works. The family holds copies available for institutional libraries.
• F. Elsig, "Raphy Dallèves (1878–1940), un 'primitif moderne'," Revue suisse d'art et d'archéologie, 55, 1998, pp. 41–44.
• L. Buzzini, Raphy Dallèves, Lausanne, 1941 — first monograph.
• W. Ritter, "Raphy Dallèves, pittore vallesano," Emporium, 54, 1921.
• B. Wyder, studies on the École de Savièse, notably Vallesia 46, 1991.
• No catalogue raisonné exists to date. Producing one is a central objective of the 2028 project.

What the Family Provides

Approximately 40 works available for loan.

Including several major pieces rarely or never exhibited — among them Les Chèvres (tempera, 135 × 260 cm). The following conditions apply to all loans.

• 1
  Free loans of catalogued works (referenced in Elsig 1999) for exhibitions on art around 1900, Symbolism, Alpine art or the return to the primitives. Complete object records provided (provenance, exhibition history, bibliography, condition). Wall-to-wall insurance at the borrower's expense; approved transport.
• 2
  Medium-term deposits, to be discussed case by case. Works remain the property of the family; no transfer of ownership.
• 3
  The Elsig monograph (1999) offered to institutional libraries.
• 4
  High-resolution images, rights-free: the work has been in the public domain since 1 January 2011; the family provides HD reproductions with complete metadata.
• 5
  Documentation and facilitation: introductions to Valaisan public collections, access to family archives.

The 2028 Project Components

Exhibition · Catalogue raisonné · Publication

Documents to download

The documentation, one click away.

• ↓
  CV and exhibition history (PDF): concise biography, exhibitions 1905–2021, public collections, bibliography. Also available online.

Contact

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