Geneva's Musée Rath is about to open a new exhibition entirely devoted to the Swiss painter, Cuno Amiet (1868-1961). About 500 of some of his finest pieces will be on show between August 31 and January 7, 2001.

All the paintings in the exhibition date back to what art critics describe as Amiet's most productive period - the years between 1892 and 1920.

Cuno Amiet is widely regarged as one of Switzerland's pioneers in modern art, according to the Geneva museum, together with Ferdinand Hodler and Giovanni Giacometti.

In 1892, Amiet started a new life in the French town of Pont-Aven, after his training in Munich and Paris. This was where he discovered the works of Gauguin and Van Gogh.

Germany's avantgarde artists snapped up Amiet's paintings and invited him to become a member of the cutting edge cultural circle "Die Brücke" which was founded in 1905. For his part, Amiet helped to promote the paintings of the group in Switzerland.

Amiet is the only artist who was a member of both the Pont-Aven and "Brücke" movements.

The Musée Rath, inaugurated in 1826, was the first museum in Switzerland to be devoted to the fine arts. It now serves as the home of large temporary exhibitions organised by the Art and History Museum.

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