Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely was born in Fribourg on May 22nd, 1925. In 1939 Tinguely’s father found him an apprenticeship as a shop-window decorator in a department store. He then studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule, school of arts and crafts, in Basle from 1941 to 1945, and a period during which he discovered the art of Schwitters and Klee as well as becoming an enthusiastic fan of the Bauhaus, Dali, and Miro. During the war and the post-war period Tinguely joins Dr. Heinrich and his discussions with syndicates, anarchists, and ex-communists in a second-hand bookshop.
Tinguely began experimenting with movement in space in 1944 with his machine-like sculptures by equipping them with electric motors and making them spin around at high speeds. He moved to Paris in 1951, where he participated in Robert Rauschenberg’s international happenings and associated with the casual artist group “Nouveaux Réalistes”, exhibiting works in their exhibitions. The artist’s international fame came around the mid-1960s, if not earlier.
Tinguely married the artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, a close friend of his, in 1961. In 1962 Tinguely has his first solo show in Switzerland. Jean Tinguely died in Bern on August 30th, 1991 due to problems caused by a stroke.