by Maria Tomaselli
He was born on the plain, but in order not to detract from the hills of Porto Alegre or the naps of the Pampa gaucho, let’s admit that he had already felt in his feet and calves the effort made to overcome a steep climb, before living in Switzerland.
Climbing a mountain in the Swiss Alps is like redoing it with all the senses, not just with the eyes, the valleys, the curves, the folds, the niches, the cliffs, the abysses, the masses, the levels, the planes, the lines surfaces and depths. It is the approach to an object far beyond the dimension of the human body, but within its reach, if it respects its particularities, those of its body and those of the mountain, which is inserted in an atmosphere all its own, unknown to a resident of a city. It changes constantly, from mild to dangerous, from bright and sunny to funereal and deadly, shrouded in mist and snow, rain and clouds, or shining in the sun. Man approaches or moves away, aware of his fragility in the face of nature.
Antônio Gerbase masterfully captured this mountain life in his watercolours, oils and woodcuts. He studied the geometry of the planes, their architecture, the colours, the mountains and his colours.
Because the majesty of a mountain, its inexhaustible volume with all its folds and nuances of colour, makes the soul vibrate. As we know from Mont Sainte-Victoire, one hundred and fifteen years ago.
