Fondation Giacometti

In a monograph publication that appeared in 1963, which he was closely associated with, the artist gave to this painting the founding status of “first painting”. It is one of the oldest oil paintings retained of Alberto Giacometti on a theme – still life – that was to recur in the artist’s painting work. The example of his father Giovanni is still very visible as much in the technique as in the composition. Alberto Giacometti started to paint at a time when his father was influenced by Cezanne, among others, hence the subject of the apples from a still life and the way to treat it. Giacometti took up that subject again from 1937. Unlike the still life works of later days (see for example “Pommes sur buffet”, 1937) here the apples are still reproduced in the foreground and with a post-impressionist touch, as the example of the father’s painting suggested. At the back of the painting are represented paintings of Alberto’s father in his studio in Stampa. The one without a frame, leaning against the wall on the right, can be identified as “Nell’osteria” from 1915 (Kunstmuseum, Lucerne). The signature of the artist, as was often the case, is subsequent to the execution of the painting and was probably fixed for the 1965 London exhibition. It is for the catalogue of that exhibition that the painter has dated that work 1913. Nevertheless, the presence of his father’s painting, made in 1915, leads us to question that dating. Giacometti re-utilized the back of this canvas around 1920 for another of his favourite subjects: the mountains of his birthplace.

Signed with lead pencil at the bottom right corner "Alberto Giacometti"

Annette GIACOMETTI
Succession Annette Giacometti
Fondation Giacometti

1965 Alberto Giacometti. Sculpture Paintings Drawings 1913 1965, London (United Kingdom), Tate Gallery, from July 17th to August 30th 1965, no. 95
1965 Alberto Giacometti, Humlebæk (Denmark), Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, from September 18th to October 24th 1965, no. 90
1969 Alberto Giacometti, Paris (France), Orangerie des Tuileries, from October 15th 1969 to January 12th 1970, no. 123
1978 Alberto Giacometti, Saint-Paul-de-Vence (France), Fondation Marguerite et Aimé Maeght, from July 8th to September 30th 1978, no. 117
1991 Alberto Giacometti. Sculptures. Peintures. Dessins, Paris (France), Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, from November 30th 1991 to March 15th 1992, no. 2
1994 Alberto Giacometti. Skulpturer. Mälningar. Teckningar, Malmö (Sweden), Malmö Konsthall, from October 29th 1994 to January 22nd 1995
2006 Alberto Giacometti, Kamakura (Japan), The Museum of Modern Art, from June 3rd to July 30th 2006, no. I-1
2006 Alberto Giacometti, Kobe (Japan), Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, from August 8th to October 1st 2006, no. I-1
2006 Alberto Giacometti, Sakura (Japan), Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, from October 10th to December 3rd 2006, no. I-1
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. 5
2008 Cézanne & Giacometti. Paths of doubt, Humlebæk (Denmark), Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, from February 15th to June 29th 2008, no. 62
2008 Alberto Giacometti, Rotterdam (Netherlands), Kunsthal, from October 18th 2008 to February 8th 2009, no. 125
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
2015 Alberto Giacometti, Istanbul, Tepebasi-Beyoglu-Istanbul, PERA MUSEUM, from February 10th to April 26th 2015
2016 Picasso-Giacomettii, Paris (France), Musée National Picasso, from October 4th 2016 to February 5th 2017

Guy TOSATTO, Véronique WIESINGER, "Giacometti, l'homme qui cherche", in Beaux Quartiers, Grenoble : Société Grenobloise de Médias, no. H.S., spring 2013, p. 14, ill. p. 14
Véronique WIESINGER, "Giacometti in Switzerland", in Apollo, London, april 2011, p. 30, pl. 2, ill. p. 30
Alberto GIACOMETTI, in Louisiana Revy, Humlebæk : Editions Louisiana, no. 1, september 1965, cat. no. 90
David SYLVESTER, Alberto Giacometti. Sculpture. Paintings. Drawings 1913 1965, London : Arts Council of Great Britain, 1965, cat. no. 95
Jean LEYMARIE (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti, Paris : Ministère d'Etat des Affaires culturelles. RMN, 1969, cat. no. 123, p. 154
Jacques DUPIN, Alberto Giacometti, Saint-Paul-de-Vence : Fondation Marguerite et Aimé Maeght, 1978, cat. no. 117, p. 110, ill. p. 110
Alberto Giacometti, Stuttgart : Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 1988, p. 116, ill. p. 116
Suzanne PAGE (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti. Sculptures. Peintures. Dessins, Paris : Paris-Musées, 1991, cat. no. 2, p. 88, ill. p. 88
Yves BONNEFOY, Alberto Giacometti. Biographie d'une oeuvre, Paris : Flammarion, 1991, cat. no. 11, ill. p. 15
Alberto Giacometti : The Paintings, New York, NY : Columbia University, 1994, p. 37
Sune NORDGREN (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti. Skulpturer. Mälningar. Teckningar, Stockholm : Raster Förlag, 1994, p. 43 et 219, ill. p. 43
Véronique WIESINGER, Toshio YAMANASHI (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti, Tokyo : The Tokyo Shimbun, 2006, cat. no. I-1, p. 22, ill. p. 22
Véronique WIESINGER, Giacometti. La figure au défi, Paris : Découvertes Gallimard, 2007, ill. p. 13
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. 5, pl. 290, ill. p. 174
Felix A. BAUMANN-BRUCKNER, Poul Erik TOJNER (under the direction of), Cézanne & Giacometti. Paths of Doubt, Ostfildern : HATJE CANTZ VERLAG, 2008, cat. no. 62, p. 349, ill. p. 297
Véronique WIESINGER, Charlotte VAN LINGEN (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti, Harderwijk : D'jonge Hond, 2008, cat. no. 125, ill. p. 161
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Giacometti in Switzerland, Geneva : Gagosian Gallery, 2010, p. 24 & 90, ill. p. 25
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Giacometti, Sao Paulo : Cosac & Naify Ediçoes, 2012, ill. p. 18
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti. A Retrospective, Barcelona : Ediciones Poligrafa, 2012 / Malaga : Museo Picasso, 2012, ill. p. 204
Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti. Una retrospectiva, Barcelona : Ediciones Poligrafa, 2012 / Malaga : Museo Picasso, 2012, ill. p. 204
Yves BONNEFOY, Alberto Giacometti. Biographie d'une oeuvre, Paris : Flammarion, 2012, cat. no. 11, ill. p. 15