Guido Boggiani
Encyclopedia
Guido Boggiani was an Italian painter
, picture drawer
, photographer, and ethnologist who in 1887 traveled through the interior of Brazil
, Bolivia
and Paraguay to document the lives of Indians in the region. Now hailed as a "pioneer of fieldwork" in Italian ethnology, he was ritually killed by natives in 1902.
(Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
) to Giuseppe Boggiani and Clelia Gené. From his father, Giuseppe inherited a passion for the arts, especially painting. When he was 17, and after studying general culture, Boggiani went to the Brera Academy
(Milan
) to study painting. He was taught by Filippo Carcano
, becoming a prominent painter. In 1883 Boggiani exhibited for the first time in Palazzo delle Belle Arte (Rome
), and his painting della raccolta castagne was acquired by the National Museum of Modern Art
in Rome for about 6,000 pounds, a price considered high at that time.
In 1887, when 26, Boggiani undertook a journey to Argentina
in order to show his paintings. In Buenos Aires
he met several Italians who lived in Paraguay, and through the comments made, especially on the areas of Chaco
and indigenous peoples, his fascination with Paraguay started.
intending to trade in cattle and hides, then began his first expedition in the Gran Chaco
. With the efforts of Don Juan De Cominges he reached Puerto Casado
. Here he made his first contact with the Chamacoco Indians. He returned to Italy in 1893, bringing a collection of artifacts of great anthropological value, and started writing books based on his experiences.
In 1896 he returned to Asunción. This time equipped with a camera, tripod and all the elements for the development of glass plates, he was convinced that photography was the only way to study these peoples living in their little huts. Since his subjects may well have believed that his photographs were robbing them of their souls, this was a dangerous occupation. In the end, besides his many books, his photographs (more than 500 were made from 1896 to 1901) earned him and the subjects of his art the interest and admiration of a wider audience; part of his collection was subsequently acquired by the Ethnological Museum of Berlin
.
Boggiani was last seen by urban society on October 24, 1901, along with his assistant Félix Gavilan, when he left Asunción towards the Gran Chaco. In October 1902 Boggiani wrote for the last time to his brother Oliveira, writing of details of the expedition. It wasn't until 1904 that the Italian community of Asunción organized an expedition, led by the Spanish explorer José Fernandez Cancio, and on 20 October 1904 found the remains of Boggiano with his skull destroyed. It is supposed that the Chamacoco had split his head to prevent Boggiani and his camera from exerting more harm to their souls; in 1902 the American Anthropologist reported he had been killed "presumably at the hands of the Tobas Indians." His camera was found buried, and it is assumed many negatives too are buried. The actual remains of Boggiani are in a tomb in the Italian cemetery of Asunción.
Boggiani's work could be saved thanks to the Czech explorer and botanist Alberto Vojtěch Frič
(1882–1944), who went to Paraguay a few years later and was able to recover all his belongings, thanks to his good relations with the natives. His grandson, Pavel Frič, later succeeded in developing all of the photographs, and the collection is reproduced in Guido Boggiani, Photographer (1997).
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, picture drawer
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
, photographer, and ethnologist who in 1887 traveled through the interior of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
and Paraguay to document the lives of Indians in the region. Now hailed as a "pioneer of fieldwork" in Italian ethnology, he was ritually killed by natives in 1902.
Early years, Italy
Guido Boggiano was born on 20 September 1861 in OmegnaOmegna
Omegna is a comune in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 100 km northeast of Turin and about 13 km southwest of Verbania at the northernmost point of Lago d’Orta and traversed by the Nigoglia, the lake’s sole outflow.-History:The presence...
(Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Verbano-Cusio-Ossola is the northernmost province in the Italian region of Piedmont. It was created in 1996 through the fusion of three distinct regions which had previously been part of the Province of Novara...
) to Giuseppe Boggiani and Clelia Gené. From his father, Giuseppe inherited a passion for the arts, especially painting. When he was 17, and after studying general culture, Boggiani went to the Brera Academy
Brera Academy
The Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, also known as Brera Academy is a public academic institution located in Milan, Italy. It was founded in 1776 by HIM Maria Theresa of Austria.- Overview :...
(Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
) to study painting. He was taught by Filippo Carcano
Filippo Carcano
Filippo Carcano was an Italian painter.-Biography:A pupil of Francesco Hayez at the Brera Academy in Milan as from 1855, Carcano won the Canonica Prize with a work on a historical subject in 1862, while experimenting in the same period with painting from life...
, becoming a prominent painter. In 1883 Boggiani exhibited for the first time in Palazzo delle Belle Arte (Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
), and his painting della raccolta castagne was acquired by the National Museum of Modern Art
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, or the National Gallery of Modern Art , is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, dedicated to modern art....
in Rome for about 6,000 pounds, a price considered high at that time.
In 1887, when 26, Boggiani undertook a journey to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in order to show his paintings. In Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
he met several Italians who lived in Paraguay, and through the comments made, especially on the areas of Chaco
Chaco Department
The Paraguayan Chaco or Región Occidental is a semi-arid region in Paraguay, with a very low population density.The Chaco is a large geographic area that is sparsely populated. Many of those living in the region are native peoples...
and indigenous peoples, his fascination with Paraguay started.
Later years, Paraguay
In 1888 Boggiani went to AsunciónAsunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
intending to trade in cattle and hides, then began his first expedition in the Gran Chaco
Gran Chaco
The Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it is connected with the Pantanal region...
. With the efforts of Don Juan De Cominges he reached Puerto Casado
La Victoria District, Paraguay
Puerto Casado is one of the 4 districts in Alto Paraguay, Paraguay. It includes the town of La Victoria or Puerto La Victoria, which has a population of around 6,000.-History and Tourism :...
. Here he made his first contact with the Chamacoco Indians. He returned to Italy in 1893, bringing a collection of artifacts of great anthropological value, and started writing books based on his experiences.
In 1896 he returned to Asunción. This time equipped with a camera, tripod and all the elements for the development of glass plates, he was convinced that photography was the only way to study these peoples living in their little huts. Since his subjects may well have believed that his photographs were robbing them of their souls, this was a dangerous occupation. In the end, besides his many books, his photographs (more than 500 were made from 1896 to 1901) earned him and the subjects of his art the interest and admiration of a wider audience; part of his collection was subsequently acquired by the Ethnological Museum of Berlin
Ethnological Museum of Berlin
The Ethnological Museum in Berlin is one of the largest ethnological museums in the world. It houses half a million pre-industrial objects, acquired primarily from the German voyages of exploration and colonialization of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries...
.
Boggiani was last seen by urban society on October 24, 1901, along with his assistant Félix Gavilan, when he left Asunción towards the Gran Chaco. In October 1902 Boggiani wrote for the last time to his brother Oliveira, writing of details of the expedition. It wasn't until 1904 that the Italian community of Asunción organized an expedition, led by the Spanish explorer José Fernandez Cancio, and on 20 October 1904 found the remains of Boggiano with his skull destroyed. It is supposed that the Chamacoco had split his head to prevent Boggiani and his camera from exerting more harm to their souls; in 1902 the American Anthropologist reported he had been killed "presumably at the hands of the Tobas Indians." His camera was found buried, and it is assumed many negatives too are buried. The actual remains of Boggiani are in a tomb in the Italian cemetery of Asunción.
Boggiani's work could be saved thanks to the Czech explorer and botanist Alberto Vojtěch Frič
Alberto Vojtech Fric
Alberto Vojtěch Frič was a famous Czech botanist, ethnographer, writer and explorer. He undertook 8 voyages to America, discovered, described and catalogued many species of cactus....
(1882–1944), who went to Paraguay a few years later and was able to recover all his belongings, thanks to his good relations with the natives. His grandson, Pavel Frič, later succeeded in developing all of the photographs, and the collection is reproduced in Guido Boggiani, Photographer (1997).
Awards, honors
In Italy Boggiani was awarded, among others, the gold medal "Monaco di Bavaria." A museum in the town of San Lorenzo (Paraguay) bears his name, the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography Guido Boggiani.Works by Boggiani
- Notizie etnografiche sulla tribù dei Ciamacoco, etc. Atti della Società Romana di Antropologia. vol. 2. Rome: Società Romana per l'Antropologia, 1894.
- I Ciamacoco. Rome: Società Romana per l'Antropologia, 1894.
- With Vittorio Bottègo. Viaggi di scoperta nel cuore dell'Africa: Il Giuba esplorata. Rome: Loescher, 1895.
- I Caduvei (Mbayá o Guaicurú). Viaggio d'un artista nell'America Meridionale. Romer: Ermanno Loescher, 1895.
- Os Caduveo. Translated and annotated. Biblioteca histórica brasileira 14. São Paulo: Livraria Martins Editôra, 1945.
- Tatuaggio o pittura? Studio intorno ad una curiosa usanza delle popolazioni indigene dell'antico Peru. Rome: Stabilimento Tipografico G. Civelli, 1895. (Extract from Atti del IIo Congresso Geografico Italiano, Roma, 22-27 settembre 1895.)
- Vocabolario dell'idioma ciamacoco. Extract from Atti della Società Romana per l'Antropologia; 2:1. Rome: 1894.
- Vocabolario dell'idioma ciamacoco. Rev. Čestmír Loukotka. Buenos Aires, "Coni", 1929.
- Vocabolario dell'idioma guaná. (È comune anche alle tribù Ciapuchi,́ Sanapana,́ Angaite ́e Lengua o Petegmeḱ, e forse anche alla Pilaga ́o Pitipaga)́. Memoria di Guido Boggiani. Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei. Rome, 1895.
- Apuntes sueltos de la lengua de los indios caduveos del Chaco paraguayo. Buenos Aires: Impr. y Papeleria La Buenos Aires, 1897.
- Nei dintorni di Corumbà (Brasile). Roma, Presso la Società geografica italiana, 1897.
- La Questione dei confini tra le repubbliche del Paraguay e della Bolivia. Roma, Presso la Società geografica italiana, 1897.
- "Etnografía del Alto Paraguay" 1898.
- "Guaicurú. Su nombre, posición geográfica, reporte étnico y lingüístico en la América Meridional". 1898.
- "En favor de los indios Chamacocos" 1898.
- "Los chamacocos"
- "Vocabulario del idioma chamacoco"
- "Los indios caigua del Alto Paraná (Misiones)"
- Discusiones sobre filología etnográfica y geografía histórica. Asunción: Guido Boggiani, 1899.
- Sobre ortografía de nombres geográficos guaraníes. Buenos Aires, Imprenta y litografía "La Buenos Aires," 1899.
- Compendio de etnografia Paraguaya moderna. Asunción, 1900.
Works on Boggiani
- Bertelli, Antonio de Padua. Os indios cavaleiros Guaycurus: fatos e acontecidos entre 1526 - 1986 no Pantanal do Mato Grosso. São Paulo: Uyara, 1987. In Portuguese.
- Boggiani y el Chaco: una aventura del siglo XIX: fotografías de la colección Frič. Buenos Aires: Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco, 2002.
- Bonati, Isabella. Guido Boggiani: Orme nell'ignoto. Turin: Il Tucano, 2006. ISBN 8888473106. In Italian.
- Comitato Pro-Boggiani (Asunción). Alla ricerca di Guido Boggiani. Spedizione Cancio nel Ciaco Boreale, Alto Paraguay. Relazione e documenti. Milano: Bontempelli, 1903.
- Diaz-Perez, Viriato, and Raúl Amarai. Coronario di Guido Boggiani. Palma de Mallorca: Luis Ropoli, 1977. ISBN 8485048350.
- Frič, Pavel, and Yvonna Fričová, eds. Guido Boggiani: Fotograf / Fotografo / Fotógrafo / Photographer. Prague: Titanic, 1997. ISBN 80-85909-25-1. A large-format book with prints and also text in Czech, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and English.
- Frič, Pavel, and Yvonna Fričová, eds. Guido Boggiani Fotografo. Lisbon: Museo Nacional de Etnologia, 2001. ISBN 9727760899. In Portuguese.
- Lehmann-Nitsche, Robert, ed. La Colección Boggiani de Tipos Indigenas de Sudamérica Central / Die Sammlung Boggiani von Indianentypen ause dem zentralen Südamerika. Buenos Aires: R. Rosauer, 1904. A series of 100 postcards on those originating Paraguayans, which included a supplement of 12 naked special reserved for scientists.
- Leigheb, Maurizio. Lo sguardo del viaggiatore: vita e opere di Guido Boggiani. Novara: Interlinea, 1997. ISBN 8882121356.
- Leigheb, Maurizio, ed. Guido Boggiani: Pittore, esplatore, etnografo. Novara, 1986. Torino: Regione Piemonte, 1986.
- Leigheb, Maurizio, and Lino Cerutti, eds. Guido Boggiani – la vita i viaggio le opere: atti del Convegno internazionale, Novara, 8-9 marzo 1985 Novara: Banca Popolare di Novara, 1992.
- Pettazzoni, Raffaele. In Memoria di Guido Boggiani. Rome: Centro italiano di studi americani, 1941.
- Scotti, Pietro. I contributi americanistici di Guido Boggiani. Genova, Libreria degli studi, 1955.
- Scotti, Pietro. La seconda spedizione di Guido Boggiani fra i Caduvèi (1897). Genova: Libreria degli studi, 1963.
- Viviani, Alberto. Guido Boggiani: alla scoperta del Gran Chaco. Turin: Paravia, 1951.
- Vangelista, Chiara. "Un pittore etnografo e mercante: Scambi commerciali e osservazioni etnografiche di Guido Boggiani durante un viaggio tra i Cadiueu." In Fedora Giordano and Alberto Guaraldo (ed. and introd.), Gli indiani d'America e l'Italia, II. Alessandria, Italy: Orso, 2002. 61-77.
External links
- Abel, Alexander. "El arte de robar el alma a los indios". Clarín, 17 November 2002.
- Giordano, Mariana. "El hombre de la cámara". Página 12, 10 November 2002.
- Machado, Alvaro. "Hell and Heaven in Chaco: Guido Boggiani's History". Article with sample images. Via Wayback.
- Supplementary images. Via Wayback.
- Pesis, Hernán. "El trágico final del fotógrafo". Leedor, 13 October 2005.