Fondation Giacometti

Annette Arm, the artist’s wife, was Giacometti’s main female model. Annette and Alberto met in Geneva in 1943. She was 20 years his junior and became his wife in 1949. Annette started to sit for the artist in 1946, when she moved in with him in Paris. Afterwards, she carried on sitting for him, not only for portraits as such but also for most of the female nudes made by the artist. In this painting, the figure of Annette, although recognizable in its features, is similar to some sculptures Giacometti made throughout the Fifties, like the Standing nude from life in 1954. In later works, the features of the model are lost in favour of a more expressive representation of the human being in general, sometimes as far as being deformed. For most of the nude paintings, Annette sat in the Parisian studio in rue Hippolyte-Maindron, whose furniture, works and tools are recognizable, especially in the nude paintings of the Fifties. On the other hand, one knows of very few nudes that, like this one, have been made in Stampa. A Petit nu of the same period, on top of a still life with apples, is very similar to this one. It was painted in Stampa and is kept at the Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung in Zurich. The studio in Stampa is only recognizable here because of the lines of the floorboard, which give an idea of perspective and construction in space. The rest of the painting is very essential and sober. The nude is almost drawn on the canvas in a single grey tone, the same one used for the drawn frame and for the dedication (“Pour Annette”), the signature and the date spread along the black line drawn at the bottom of the painting. This painting was never exhibited in the artist’s lifetime.

Dedicated, dated and signed with a paintbrush at the bottom "Pour Annette 17 Novembre 1961 à Stampa Alberto"

Annette GIACOMETTI
Succession Annette Giacometti
Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti

2006 Alberto Giacometti - Bror Hjorth, Stockholm (Sweden), Liljevalchs Konsthall, from September 23rd 2006 to January 7th 2007, no. 39
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. 44
2008 Alberto Giacometti, Rotterdam (Netherlands), Kunsthal, from October 18th 2008 to February 8th 2009, no. 78
2010 Giacometti in Switzerland, Geneva (Switzerland), Gagosian Gallery, from November 18th 2010 to March 5th 2011
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
2012 Alberto Giacometti. Colección de la Fundación Alberto y Annette Giacometti,París, Buenos Aires (Argentina), Fundación PROA, from October 13th 2012 to January 9th 2013
2018 Alberto Giacometti / Annette Messager. Nos chambres, Paris, Institut Giacometti, from October 16th 2018 to January 13th 2019
2022 Alberto Giacometti Toward the ultimate figure. , Cleveland (United States Of America), Cleveland Museum of Art, from March 12th to June 12th 2022
2022 Alberto Giacometti Toward the ultimate figure. , Seattle, WA (United States Of America), Seattle Art Museum, from July 14th to October 9th 2022
2022 Alberto Giacometti Toward the ultimate figure., Houston, TX (United States Of America), The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, from November 13th 2022 to February 12th 2023
2023 Alberto Giacometti Toward the ultimate figure. (Kansas), Kansas City, MO (United States Of America), The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, from March 18th to June 18th 2023
2023 Annette en plus infiniment, Paris, Institut Giacometti, from July 11th to September 27th 2023

Véronique WIESINGER, "Giacometti in Switzerland", in Apollo, London, april 2011, p. 31, pl. 3, ill. p. 31
Véronique WIESINGER, Bo NILSSON, Alberto Giacometti. Bror Hjorth, Stockholm : Liljevalchs Konsthall, 2006, p. 92, ill. p. 79
Véronique WIESINGER, Bo NILSSON, Alberto Giacometti. Partial reprint with corrections, Stockholm : Liljevalchs Konsthall, 2006, cat. no. 39, p. 94, ill. p. 80
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), L'atelier d'Alberto Giacometti, Paris : Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, 2007 / Paris : Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, 2007, cat. no. 44, pl. 231, ill. p. 146
Véronique WIESINGER, Charlotte VAN LINGEN (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti, Harderwijk : D'jonge Hond, 2008, cat. no. 78, ill. p. 123
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Giacometti in Switzerland, Geneva : Gagosian Gallery, 2010, p. 61 & 90, ill. p. 61 & 63
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Giacometti, Sao Paulo : Cosac & Naify Ediçoes, 2012, ill. p. 162
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti. A Retrospective, Barcelona : Ediciones Poligrafa, 2012 / Malaga : Museo Picasso, 2012, ill. p. 60
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti. Una retrospectiva, Barcelona : Ediciones Poligrafa, 2012 / Malaga : Museo Picasso, 2012, ill. p. 60