Fondation Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti made a very large series of portraits of his relatives, like his wife Annette and his brother Diego, his close friends and acquaintances, met among art historians, critics and collectors, who most often posed in his Parisian studio at 46 Rue Hippolyte-Maindron, whose architecture is recognizable in the background – often limited to a few perpendiculars, and the big diagonal of the stairs. John Rewald, an art historian, who specialised in Impressionism and post-Impressionism, in particular Cézanne’s work, is here represented full-length, next to his seated wife, in the studio. The lines that structure the space behind them traverse the characters. The artist has paid less attention to their faces – although the features of the couple are quite recognizable – than to the depiction of the two bodies, fitted in the space of the studio, inserted in the network of lines that form their outlines. Here, the artist has made a very measured use of the rubber, bringing a few touches of light to Alice Rewald’s head, re-drawing John’s chin.

Signed and dated with a pencil at the bottom right corner "Alberto Giacometti 1960"

Galerie Maeght
Clark University
Sale Christie's New York New York, NY (United States Of America), November 15th, 1989, lot n ° 94
Helmut KLEWAN
Sale Sotheby's London London (United Kingdom), February 4th, 2010, lot n ° 190

2001 Alberto Giacometti : Porträts, Apolda (Germany), Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde, from June 17th to September 16th 2001, no. 36
2004 Alberto Giacometti. Paintings and drawings from Private Collections, London (United Kingdom), Thomas Gibson Fine Art Ltd, from November 17th to December 15th 2004
2007 Alberto Giacometti. A la colleccio Klewan, Girona (Spain), Sala Girona de l'Obra Social la Caixa, from February 1st to April 15th 2007, no. 22
2007 Alberto Giacometti. A la colleccio Klewan, Lleida (Spain), Centre Social i Cultural Lleida de l'Obra Social la Caixa, from May 9th to July 22nd 2007, no. 22
2007 Alberto Giacometti. A la colleccio Klewan, Palma de Mallorca (Spain), CaixaForum Palma, from August 28th to November 18th 2007, no. 22
2007 Alberto Giacometti. Sammlung Klewan, Neumarkt In Der Oberpfalz (Germany), Museum Lothar Fischer, from December 9th 2007 to March 30th 2008

Impressionist and Modern Drawings and Watercolors, New York, NY : Christie's New York, 1989, lot no. 94, p. 127
Alberto Giacometti : Porträts, Kleve : Museum Kurhaus Kleve, 2001, cat. no. 36
Alberto Giacometti. Paintings and drawings from Private Collections, London : Thomas Gibson Fine Art Ltd, 2004, p. 56, ill. p. 57
Alberto Giacometti. Sammlung Klewan, Neumarkt In Der Oberpfalz : Museum Lothar Fischer, 2007, p. 55, ill. p. 55
Alberto Giacometti. A la colleccio Klewan, Barcelona : Fundació La Caixa, 2007, cat. no. 22, p. 133, ill. p. 65
Dichter Denker Dadaisten, Berlin : Matthes & Seitz Berlin Verlag, 2007, p. 140
Impressionist & Modern Art. Day Sale, London : Sotheby's London, 2010, lot no. 190