Fondation Giacometti

The shape of this work is an extension of the cubist-influenced sculptures in the shape of plates with primitive and totemic influences that Giacometti was making in the years 1927-1928. While in the previous pieces the signs in relief made on the plates were very marked, here the relief is very subtle, made of light hollows, fine incisions and delicate curves. It is the light that animates the work, creating an ambiguity between the solid and the hollow following trails that sculptors were exploring at the time. Commenting on a similar piece in “Cahiers d’art” in 1929, Christian Zervos contrasted it to the Cycladic plates, regretting: “if one were to suppress any part of Giacometti’s exhibited work, one would notice that that work would end up disorganised, by the very fact that its unity rests more on appearance than on qualities intrinsic to the art of sculpture.” This critical comment is on the contrary, a perfect summing up of Giacometti’s effort in condensing the figure and space that surround it in an indissoluble way. The first exhibition of this work, initially in plaster, is not known with any certainty. It was cast in bronze after the artist’s death.

Signature and cast number engraved on the back side of the base "Alberto Giacometti 0/6"

Annette GIACOMETTI
Succession Annette Giacometti
Fondation Giacometti

2005 Alberto Giacometti au donjon de Vez, Vez (France), Donjon de Vez, from June 18th to October 2nd 2005
2006 Alberto Giacometti - Bror Hjorth, Stockholm (Sweden), Liljevalchs Konsthall, from September 23rd 2006 to January 7th 2007, no. 8
2007 L'atelier d'Alberto Giacometti, Paris (France), Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, from October 15th 2007 to February 11th 2008, no. 89
2011 Alberto Giacometti. Una retrospectiva. Colección de la Fundación Alberto y Annette Giacometti, Malaga (Spain), Museo Picasso, from October 17th 2011 to February 5th 2012
2012 Alberto Giacometti. Coleção da Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris, Sao Paulo (Brazil), Pinacoteca do estado, from March 24th to June 17th 2012
2012 Alberto Giacometti. Coleção da Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Museu de Arte Moderna, from July 17th to September 16th 2012
2014 Surréalisme & Arts primitifs. Vers une révolution du regard, Nyon (Switzerland), Fondation Pierre Arnaud Centre d’art, Lens / Crans-Montana, from June 12th to October 5th 2014
2015 Alberto Giacometti au Fonds Hélène et Edouard Leclerc, Landerneau (France), Fonds Hélène & Edouard Leclerc, from June 14th to October 25th 2015
2016 Alberto Giacometti. Rétrospective, Rabat (Morocco), Musée Mohammed VI, from April 20th to September 4th 2016
2016 Picasso-Giacomettii, Paris (France), Musée National Picasso, from October 4th 2016 to February 5th 2017
2017 Picasso-Giacometti at Doha, Doha (Qatar), Fire Station, from February 22nd to May 21st 2017
2019 Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler Flora, Paris, Institut Giacometti, from April 5th to June 9th 2019
2021 Alberto Giacometti. Une rétrospective. Le réel merveilleux., MONACO (Monaco), Grimaldi Forum Monaco, from July 3rd to August 29th 2021
2021 Picasso-Giacometti Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar (Netherlands), Museum Voorlinden, from October 16th 2021 to February 13th 2022

Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti au Donjon de Vez, Oeuvres de la Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Vez : Donjon de Vez, 2005, p. 16, ill. p. 17
Véronique WIESINGER, Bo NILSSON, Alberto Giacometti. Bror Hjorth, Stockholm : Liljevalchs Konsthall, 2006, p. 88, ill. p. 30
Véronique WIESINGER, Bo NILSSON, Alberto Giacometti. Partial reprint with corrections, Stockholm : Liljevalchs Konsthall, 2006, cat. no. 8, p. 89, ill. p. 31
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), L'atelier d'Alberto Giacometti, Paris : Fondation Giacometti, 2007 / Paris : Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, 2007, cat. no. 89, pl. 89, ill. p. 89
Véronique WIESINGER, Charlotte VAN LINGEN (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti, Harderwijk : D'jonge Hond, 2008, pl. 6, ill. p. 31
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Giacometti, Sao Paulo : Cosac & Naify Ediçoes, 2012, ill. p. 74, 75
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti. A Retrospective, Barcelona : Ediciones Poligrafa, 2012 / Malaga : Museo Picasso, 2012, ill. p. 137
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti. Una retrospectiva, Barcelona : Ediciones Poligrafa, 2012 / Malaga : Museo Picasso, 2012, ill. p. 134