FRANÇOIS DIDAY (1802-1877 )
Gstellihorn (2,855m - 9127ft)
Switzerland
In Cascades à Rosenlaui avec le massif du Engelhörner à l'arriere, Oberland bernois, oil on canvas Courstesy John Mitchell Gallery, London
The mountain
The Gstellihorn (2855m - 9127ft) is the highest peak of The Engelhörner (literally: "angel horns") a mountain range about four kilometers long stretching to the northeastern end of the Bernese Alps and comprising several peaks. The Reichenbach valley lies to the north-west and the Urbach valley to the south-east.Others peaks of that range are the Grosse Engelhorn (2,782 m), the Urbachsengelhorn (2,767 m) and the Hohjegiburg (2,639 m).
The Engelhörner are part of the Swiss aquifers of the Aar massif and are mostly made of light limestone lime. Only the summit of Gstellihorn is made of granite and is therefore part of the Aare massif in the geological sense. Since 1951, the Engelhörner have been accessible via the Engelhorn hut of the Academic Alpine Club Bern (AACB.
The painter
François Diday was a Swiss painter. Originally from Graubünden, François Diday studied art at the Society of Arts. Landscapers such as Charles-Joseph Auriol, Joseph Hornung and Wolgang-Adam Toepffer also gave him lessons and trained him in their art. In 1821, François Diday made a short stay in Paris where he he worked in 1823 at Antoine Gros's studio. In 1824 he received a small scholarship for a stay in Italy. His works are noticed by the French painter Alexandre-Auguste Robineau Around 1830, François Diday opens his own studio and trains young painters. He takes the head of the School of Alpine painting in Geneva, criticized by the french painters as representing only mountain landscapes. The paintings by François Diday are characterized by a harmonious light that illuminates the landscape.
François Diday received awards, notably in Paris (gold medal in 1841 and Legion of honor in 1842 for his painting Le Lac de Brienz or Les Baigneuses) and in Vienna in 1873 (bronze medal at the Universal Exhibition). He then exhibited in Berlin and Switzerland.
In politics, he joined the city council of Geneva in 1854. Upon his death, he bequeathed part of his property to the city of Geneva through the Diday Foundation and the Society of Arts.
He is buried in the Cimetière des Rois in Geneva.
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2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
