Fondation Giacometti

This studio space is the one occupied by Alberto Giacometti in Paris, in rue Hippolyte-Maindron, where he lived and worked from 1926. A recurrent subject in his graphic work, the interior of his studio, constantly under the artist’s eyes, offered him changing viewpoints as the furniture and the works in progress were moved about in that tiny 23 square metres space. As much in his numerous drawings as in his lithographs and etchings made from 1951, the place, peopled or not with figures, bears witness to the interest the artist had for the representation of the space. One finds there, among other immutable elements of furniture, the barstool. The artist fixes his attention on this barstool, placed behind a work present at the time in the studio and of which only the legs placed on a pedestal can be guessed. One can also see, behind, the upright of the sofa that is against the wall at the back of the studio, and paintings, placed on the floor or on an easel. The stroke does not linger on those details and focuses our gaze solely on the barstool. A very similar pencilled drawing, un-dated but most probably made at the same time, was reproduced in collotype in June 1957 in issue 98 of the magazine published by Maeght, “Derrière le miroir”, on page 23, which lets us think that the dedication, dated the 20 September, is perhaps subsequent to the making of the drawing that one could then date from the middle of 1957. The person to whom the drawing is dedicated is Marguerite Lang, sister of Angèle Lamotte, who was Tériade’s first wife. Marguerite Lang was herself a close collaborator of the publisher of Greek origin, working with him for the publication of the art magazine “Verve”, and on his various projects for illustrated books. Alberto Giacometti, who knew Tériade from the end of the Twenties, began, towards the end of the Fifties, to make lithographs for a book on Paris which Tériade was going to publish, “Paris sans fin”, published in 1969. It is undoubtedly in that work context that Giacometti came to know and associate with Madame Lang, and dedicated to her this drawing. Marguerite Lang kept the artwork with her until her death on 21 August 1971, and this drawing, never exhibited in the artist’s lifetime, appeared for the first time during the auction of the Lang estate in 1972.

Dedicated with a pencil at the bottom right 20 decembre 1957 "Pour Marguerite / 20 décembre 1957 / Alberto Giacometti"

Private collection
Sale Bernard Oger Paris (France), March 4th, 1972, lot n ° 19
Private collection
Sale Etude Loudmer Paris (France), February 7th, 1978, lot n ° 118
Private collection
Sale BRIEST Francis Paris (France), November 28th, 1996, lot n ° 11
Sale Artcurial. Briest. Le Fur. Poulain. F. Tajan Paris (France), October 23rd, 2008, lot n ° 106
Sale Artcurial. Briest. Le Fur. Poulain. F. Tajan Paris (France), June 1st, 2010, lot n ° 34

1987 Sartre e l'arte. Omaggio a Jean-Paul Sartre, Rome (Italy), Villa Medici, from February 18th to March 25th 1987, no. 88

Tableaux modernes. Succession de Madame Lang, Paris : Bernard Oger, 1972, lot no. 19
Vente (catalogue à chercher), Paris : Mes Guy Loudmer & Hervé Poulain, 1978, lot no. 118
Tableaux impressionnistes et modernes, Paris : Francis Briest, 1996, lot no. 11, p. 18, ill. p. 18
Art moderne I, Paris : Artcurial. Briest. Le Fur. Poulain. F. Tajan, 2008, lot no. 106, ill. p. 106
Art Moderne, Paris : Artcurial. Briest. Le Fur. Poulain. F. Tajan, 2010, lot no. 34