Fondation Giacometti

Annetta Giacometti, Alberto’s mother (1871-1964), was the model for numerous works by Giacometti: from drawings dating from his youth – in which she is represented alone or with the other members of the family – to paintings and sculptures of the artist’s mature years. After having spent the war years in Geneva, Annetta came back to the family house in Stampa, where Alberto returned to from Paris every summer. It is here, or in the nearby Maloja that Giacometti made most of his mother’s portraits. Although one of the most famous portraits of Annetta dates from 1937, it is especially from the end of the Forties that Giacometti began to use his mother regularly as his model. We are aware of at least five portraits of Annetta Giacometti painted in 1949, of which one is close to this one in the model’s position and in the short distance between the model and the artist. In this portrait the light acquired a special role: coming from the right and depicted through very neat white strokes, it defines the volumes of the nose and the eyes of the model, the parts of the face Giacometti gave the most attention to while painting a portrait, as he often attested in his writings. This painting was exhibited in the artist’s lifetime in three exhibitions in the United States (1953, 1955, 1963) where it was erroneously presented as the artist’s self-portrait.

Signed with a paintbrush at the bottom right "Alberto Giacometti"

Pierre Matisse Gallery
Sidney Janis Gallery
James et Marilynn ALSDORF
Jeffrey LORIA
Richard Gray Gallery
Galerie Art Focus
Private collection (Switzerland)
Private collection
Private collection (Switzerland)

1953 Sculpture and paintings by Giacometti, Chicago, IL (United States Of America), The Arts Club of Chicago, from November 4th to December 1st 1953, no. 10
1955 Alberto Giacometti, New York, NY (United States Of America), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, from June 8th to July 17th 1955
1963 Alberto Giacometti. A loan exhibition, Washington, D.C (United States Of America), The Phillips Collection, from February 2nd to March 4th 1963, no. 47
1997 Alberto Giacometti, Hiroshima (Japan), Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, from February 18th to March 23rd 1997, no. h.c.?
1997 Alberto Giacometti, Shizuoka (Japan), Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, from April 11th to May 25th 1997, no. h.c.?
1997 Alberto Giacometti, Ashikaga (Japan), Ashikaga Museum of Art, from June 7th to July 13th 1997, no. h.c.?
1999 Alberto Giacometti. Ausgewählte Skulpturen, Gemälde und Arbeiten auf Papier. A s, Zurich (Switzerland), Galerie Art Focus, from June 11th to September 25th 1999
2000 Alberto Giacometti, Stampa-Paris, Coire (Switzerland), Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, from June 24th to September 17th 2000, no. 19
2001 Alberto Giacometti in Postwar Paris, Norwich (United Kingdom), Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (University of East Anglia), from October 2nd to December 9th 2001, no. 28

Sculpture and Paintings by Alberto Giacometti, Chicago, IL : The Arts Club of Chicago, 1953, cat. no. 10
Alberto Giacometti, New York, NY : The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1955
Alberto Giacometti. A loan exhibition, Washington, D.C : The Phillips Collection, 1963, cat. no. 47, ill. p. n.p.
Alberto Giacometti. Ausgewählte Skulpturen, Gemälde und Arbeiten auf Papier. A selection of Sculptures, Paintings and Works on Paper, Zurich : Galerie Art Focus, 1999, ill. p. 43
Alberto Giacometti. El diálogo con la historia del arte, Valence : IVAM. Centre Julio Gonzalez, 2000, ill. p. 203
Donat RUTIMANN, Beat STUTZER, Alberto Giacometti, Stampa-Paris, Coire : Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, 2000 / Zurich : Scheidegger & Spiess, 2000, cat. no. 19, p. 237, ill. p. 135
Michael PEPPIATT, Alberto Giacometti in Postwar Paris, New Haven, Londres : Yale University Press, 2001, cat. no. 28, p. 152, ill. p. 69