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Alberto Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti, Femme qui marche II, 1932–36 (cast 1960) Bronze, height: 59 inches (149.9 cm), edition no. 3, Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Femme qui marche II, 1932–36 (cast 1960)

Bronze, height: 59 inches (149.9 cm), edition no. 3, Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Petit homme sur socle, c. 1939–45 Bronze, 3 ⅛ × 2 ¾ × 2 ¼ inches (8 × 6.9 × 5.7 cm), edition 4/8, cast: Fonte Thinot (1973), Foundation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Petit homme sur socle, c. 1939–45

Bronze, 3 ⅛ × 2 ¾ × 2 ¼ inches (8 × 6.9 × 5.7 cm), edition 4/8, cast: Fonte Thinot (1973), Foundation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Le Nez, 1947 Bronze, wire, and steel, 32 × 15 ⅜ × 28 ½ inches (81.3 × 39.1 × 72.4 cm), first cast, not numbered, collection of Samuel and Ronnie Heyman, USA© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Le Nez, 1947

Bronze, wire, and steel, 32 × 15 ⅜ × 28 ½ inches (81.3 × 39.1 × 72.4 cm), first cast, not numbered, collection of Samuel and Ronnie Heyman, USA
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Figure moyenne II, 1947 Bronze with natural patina, 51 ⅛ × 7 × 12 ½ inches (129.9 × 17.8 × 31.8 cm), unique© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Figure moyenne II, 1947

Bronze with natural patina, 51 ⅛ × 7 × 12 ½ inches (129.9 × 17.8 × 31.8 cm), unique
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, The Cage (first version), 1949–50 Bronze, 35 ⅝ × 14 ⅜ × 13 ⅜ inches (90.5 × 36.5 × 34 cm), edition of 8© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, The Cage (first version), 1949–50

Bronze, 35 ⅝ × 14 ⅜ × 13 ⅜ inches (90.5 × 36.5 × 34 cm), edition of 8
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, La Clairière, 1950 Bronze, 23 ⅛ × 25 ¾ × 20 ¾ inches (58.7 × 65.3 × 52.5 cm), edition Fondation A.A. Giacometti, Fondation Giacometti, Paris© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, La Clairière, 1950

Bronze, 23 ⅛ × 25 ¾ × 20 ¾ inches (58.7 × 65.3 × 52.5 cm), edition Fondation A.A. Giacometti, Fondation Giacometti, Paris
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Annette debout, c. 1954 (cast 1982) Bronze, height: 18 ¾ inches (47.5 cm), AP I/IV, Foundation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Annette debout, c. 1954 (cast 1982)

Bronze, height: 18 ¾ inches (47.5 cm), AP I/IV, Foundation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Annette assise, 1958 Oil on canvas, 45 ½ × 35 inches (115.6 × 88.9 cm), Detroit Institute of Arts© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Annette assise, 1958

Oil on canvas, 45 ½ × 35 inches (115.6 × 88.9 cm), Detroit Institute of Arts
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, La Jambe, 1958 Bronze, 85 ⅞ × 11 ⅞ × 18 ⅜ inches (218 × 30 × 46.5 cm), edition 6/6© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, La Jambe, 1958

Bronze, 85 ⅞ × 11 ⅞ × 18 ⅜ inches (218 × 30 × 46.5 cm), edition 6/6
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, [Nu debout], 1961 Oil on canvas, 27 ¼ × 19 ½ inches (69 × 49.5 cm)© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, [Nu debout], 1961

Oil on canvas, 27 ¼ × 19 ½ inches (69 × 49.5 cm)
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Femme debout, c. 1961 Bronze, 17 ⅞ × 3 ¼ × 4 ⅜ inches (45.4 × 8.2 × 11.4 cm), edition 5/8, cast: Fonte Susse (1993)© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Femme debout, c. 1961

Bronze, 17 ⅞ × 3 ¼ × 4 ⅜ inches (45.4 × 8.2 × 11.4 cm), edition 5/8, cast: Fonte Susse (1993)
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, [Head of a Man (Lotar I)], c. 1964–65 (cast 1968) Bronze, 10 ¼ × 11 ⅛ × 4 ⅛ inches (26 × 28.1 × 10.4 cm), EA I/II© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, [Head of a Man (Lotar I)], c. 1964–65 (cast 1968)

Bronze, 10 ¼ × 11 ⅛ × 4 ⅛ inches (26 × 28.1 × 10.4 cm), EA I/II
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Buste d’homme assis (Lotar III), 1965 Bronze, 25 ¾ × 11 ⅛ × 14 inches (65.5 × 28.2 × 35.5 cm), edition EA I/II, cast: Fonte Susse (1968)© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

Alberto Giacometti, Buste d’homme assis (Lotar III), 1965

Bronze, 25 ¾ × 11 ⅛ × 14 inches (65.5 × 28.2 × 35.5 cm), edition EA I/II, cast: Fonte Susse (1968)
© 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

About

Art interests me greatly, but truth interests me infinitely more.
—Alberto Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966) devoted much of his career to the struggle between matter and meaning, engaging in an extended exploration of how to reduce the figure’s mass as far as possible while imbuing it with essential force. Jean-Paul Sartre wrote that Giacometti’s depictions of humanity are “always mediating between nothingness and being,” his sculptures evoking the emotional intensity of the void. Often considered testimony to the ravages of postwar Europe, Giacometti’s sculptures, paintings, and drawings possess a timeless quality, inflected with art historical and philosophical narratives, from Surrealism and Expressionism to existentialism and phenomenology.

Born near Stampa, in Switzerland’s southeastern Alps, Giacometti grew up surrounded by the dark shadows, glistening lakes, and precipitous roads of the steep mountain range. This geographic intensity would deeply inform his understanding of mortality and time. In 1922 Giacometti moved to Paris, where, growing dissatisfied with his figurative sculptures, he turned to Cubism, dissecting abstract forms and experimenting with negative space. His search for noncorporeal sculptural forms led to planar, abstract works such as Gazing Head (1928), shown in an exhibition at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher in June 1929. This work caught the attention of the Surrealists, whose thinking would influence the form and content of Giacometti’s work, and expanded the ways he approached themes of destruction, materiality, and the uncanny.

Giacometti often used his close companions as models, from his wife Annette to his brother Diego, as well as poets, writers, and fellow artists including Jean Genet and Eli Lotar, requiring them to sit for many hours—often over several weeks—to capture their likeness to his satisfaction. During these long periods of stillness, he would insist that his sitters offer him a presence as attentive as his own.

In the 1950s, beginning with his second exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York, Giacometti started to gain international acclaim as critics, writers, and philosophers recognized his work as an absolute embodiment of his generation. During this period the artist was particularly focused on representations of the female nude, depicting slender, elegiac forms that emphasize the relationship between the body and gravity. Giacometti produced his famed Femmes de Venise (Women of Venice, 1956) for the French Pavilion of the 1956 Venice Biennale, as well as a concurrent retrospective at the Kunsthalle Bern. Sculpting clay over wire armatures, he created around fifteen figures, nine of which were cast in bronze. Departing from his earlier, impossibly thin “visionary” figures, the Femmes de Venise are rendered with a lifelike accuracy, their somber elegance speaking to universal themes of life and death, darkness and light.

Up until his death in 1966, Giacometti pushed the limits of representation, setting into motion ever-unfolding phenomenological investigations that remain at the core of art making today: How can matter—bronze, plaster, charcoal, paint—embody truth? And how, if at all, can art preserve the essence of the living?

Alberto Giacometti

Photo: Gordon Parks/Getty Images

Fairs, Events & Announcements

Invalides train station, Paris, to be converted into the Musée & École Giacometti. Photo: © Luc Castel, courtesy Fondation Giacometti

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Musée & École Giacometti

The Fondation Giacometti is creating the Musée & École Giacometti in the historic building of the former Invalides train station and the basement of the esplanade in Paris, due to open in 2026. Envisioned as a new type of institution, the site will include a museum showcasing works by Alberto Giacometti, multidisciplinary exhibition spaces, and an art school. The site will be dedicated to fostering dialogues between the public, artists, and different modes of creative expression.

Invalides train station, Paris, to be converted into the Musée & École Giacometti. Photo: © Luc Castel, courtesy Fondation Giacometti

Jeff Koons, Bluebird Planter, 2010–16 © Jeff Koons

Art Fair

FIAC Online 2021
Printemps oublié

March 2–12, 2021

Gagosian is pleased to present Printemps oublié for the first online edition of FIAC. This curated presentation reflects the dual character of springtime as a reminder of past trials and the harbinger of a vibrant new season to come.

All the artworks will appear on the Gagosian website and a rotating selection will appear in the inaugural FIAC Online Viewing Rooms, from March 4 to 7.

Jeff Koons, Bluebird Planter, 2010–16 © Jeff Koons

Douglas Gordon’s hand alongside a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti at Institut Giacometti, Paris. Artwork © Succession Giacometti. Photo: Thomas Gangnet

Partnership

Douglas Gordon and
Institut Giacometti

The exhibition Douglas Gordon: The Morning After was scheduled to open at the Giacometti Institute in Paris on April 24, 2020, placing original works by Gordon side by side with those of Alberto Giacometti. Unfortunately, owing to the covid-19 crisis, the exhibition had to be delayed for a year. As a result, the institution has invited Douglas Gordon to collaborate on several activities from April 2020 through April 2021. This unprecedented partnership, the institute’s first with a contemporary artist, will variously take the form of impromptu interventions, disseminations, exchanges, and meetings on the foundation’s website and in the spaces of the institute and its partners.

Douglas Gordon’s hand alongside a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti at Institut Giacometti, Paris. Artwork © Succession Giacometti. Photo: Thomas Gangnet

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Museum Exhibitions

Alberto Giacometti, Le Nez, 1947, Fondation Giacometti © Succession Alberto Giacometti/ADAGP, Paris, 2023

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Alberto Giacometti
Le Nez

October 7, 2023–January 14, 2024
Institut Giacometti, Paris
www.fondation-giacometti.fr

This exhibition brings together all versions of Alberto Giacometti’s Le Nez (The Nose), a subject the artist revisited several times between 1947 and 1964. One iteration, which is too fragile to move, is presented virtually, introducing experimental media to the exhibition. The show also includes additional sculptures, drawings, and archival material, as well as works by four contemporary artists—Rui Chafes, Ange Leccia, Annette Messager, and Hiroshi Sugimoto—that respond to Giacometti’s practice.

Alberto Giacometti, Le Nez, 1947, Fondation Giacometti © Succession Alberto Giacometti/ADAGP, Paris, 2023

Chris Burden, Small Skyscraper (Quasi Legal Los Angeles County), 2002 © 2023 Chris Burden/Licensed by the Chris Burden Estate and Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Brian Guido

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Escala: Escultura (1945–2000)

March 31–July 2, 2023
Fundación Juan March, Madrid
www.march.es

This exhibition, whose title translates to Scale: Sculpture, begins with a reflection on the effects of the Second World War on a number of artists and their conception of sculptural space as refuge. The role of scale in sculpture is examined, and in an echo of the expanded meaning of sculpture today, the exhibition extends beyond the gallery walls, into the gardens and the surrounding streets. Work by Chris Burden, Alberto Giacometti, Donald Judd, Henry Moore, and Richard Serra is included.

Chris Burden, Small Skyscraper (Quasi Legal Los Angeles County), 2002 © 2023 Chris Burden/Licensed by the Chris Burden Estate and Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Brian Guido

Installation view, Jubiläumsausstellung—Special Guest Duane Hanson, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, October 30, 2022–January 8, 2023. Artwork, front to back: © 2022 Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

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Jubiläumsausstellung—Special Guest Duane Hanson

October 30, 2022–January 8, 2023
Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel
www.fondationbeyeler.ch

This exhibition, whose title translates to Anniversary Exhibition—Special Guest Duane Hanson, features more than one hundred works from the foundation’s collection, from modern to contemporary art, to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the institution. Several hyperrealist sculptures by Duane Hanson enrich the presentation, opening up surprising perspectives on the exhibited artworks, architecture, staff, and visitors. Work by Francis Bacon, Georg Baselitz, Alberto Giacometti, Anselm Kiefer, Roy Lichtenstein, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Rachel Whiteread is included.

Installation view, Jubiläumsausstellung—Special Guest Duane Hanson, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland, October 30, 2022–January 8, 2023. Artwork, front to back: © 2022 Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

Installation view, Alberto Giacometti/Sophie Ristelhueber: Legacy, Institut Giacometti, Paris, September 27–November 30, 2022. Artwork, left to right: © Succession Alberto Giacometti/ADAGP, Paris 2022; © Sophie Ristelhueber

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Alberto Giacometti/Sophie Ristelhueber
Legacy

September 27–November 30, 2022
Institut Giacometti, Paris
www.fondation-giacometti.fr

Legacy places a series of works by Alberto Giacometti in dialogue with photographs by Sophie Ristelhueber. Focusing on the individual experience and the human condition that underlie both artists’ work, this exhibition presents Giacometti’s scarified sculptures along with Ristelhueber’s photographic series of reconstructed bodies.

Installation view, Alberto Giacometti/Sophie Ristelhueber: Legacy, Institut Giacometti, Paris, September 27–November 30, 2022. Artwork, left to right: © Succession Alberto Giacometti/ADAGP, Paris 2022; © Sophie Ristelhueber

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