ALBERTO GIACOMETTI

Provenance:
- Galerie Adrien Maeght, Paris.
- Purchased from the above by the present owner, since then private collection Switzerland.

Catalogue raisonné:
- Kornfeld, no. 401 C.
- Lust, no. 355.

The Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti produced one of the most outstanding bodies of graphic art in the 20th century. The virtuosity of his line, which he demonstrated in his drawings, can also be found in his printed works. He mastered the techniques of printing with great aplomb, but preferred lithography. The works of the 1930s and 40s still bore the mark of Surrealism, until after the Second World War Giacometti gradually developed his own unmistakable style.

Three major themes dominate Alberto Giacometti’s graphic art:
Landscapes, especially the mountains of his homeland.
Portraits, in particular Annette, his mother, and companions such as Michel Leiris, but also powerful depictions of couples and single figures.
Views of the atelier, in which his sculptures are also introduced into his graphic work. No other artist gives us such a detailed insight into his atelier as this Swiss artist.

In his prints as in his paintings, sculptures and drawings, Giacometti often reinterprets the very same theme in different works. In the present collection this can be seen powerfully in the three lithographs “La mère de l’artiste lisant sous la lampe à Stampa I – III” (Lot 3620-3622) – the mother reading at a table with a hanging lamp is the motif in which the position of the mother, the surroundings or the perspective are then altered.

Alongside the individual prints, Giacometti also illustrated numerous books, of which “Paris sans fin” (Lot 3637) is his best and most comprehensive. In the course of 150 lithographs, the viewer wanders with the artist through his beloved city.