Joseph Mittey, Coutainville Sur Mer, France, 1895, Oil on Canvas

Joseph Mittey in Vix in 1853 and died in Geneva in 1936.
He was a Swiss painter of French origin.

He exhibited in Paris where he began in 1877 at the Salon of French Artists (then still called the Salon of Painting and Sculpture). He was then active in Geneva and thus participated in the introduction of impressionism in Switzerland.

Joseph Mittey was called to Geneva at the end of the 1870s to open the drawing class at the brand new School of Industrial Arts. Édouard Ravel joined him there a few years later to teach art history. Later, both worked on the decoration of the community hall of Plainpalais, inaugurated in 1909. In 1879, the ceramics class opened, teaching to which the teacher, Joseph Mittey, was quick to add the decorative composition, which had first attributed to J. Benoit-Muzy and H. Silvestre, then decorative painting.

Freemason, Joseph Mittey decorated in particular the temple of the Swiss Grand Lodge Alpina and designed the temple of the “Union of Hearts” lodge. He was also one of the decorators active in the construction of the pavilions for the National Exhibition held in Geneva in 1896.

Joseph Mittey taught many students, including Carlos Schwabe, who took classes from February 1882 to 1884 at the Geneva School.

In addition to the interior decorations of official buildings, during his career he mainly painted very colorful landscapes (views of the countryside and rivers, snowy landscapes, views of Antibes, sunny terraces, etc.), with suave but firm complexions. There are also bouquets and animated scenes. Joseph Mittey devotes himself to oil painting, watercolor and colored pyrography. He exhibits throughout Europe, in major exhibitions and in prestigious art galleries.