Author Description

Alberto Giacometti: in his own words' takes its cue from a letter that Alberto Giacometti wrote to his New York dealer and friend Pierre Matisse (1947) that accompanied a group of sculptures planned for an exhibition at Matisse's New York gallery. "Here is the list of sculptures that I promised you" Giacometti wrote, "but I could not send it without explaining a certain succession of facts [?] without which it would make no sense". What followed these words is a fascinating account of Giacometti's thoughts on sculpture; a testimony of his relentless pursuit to express truth in his work in a manner that is not limited to mere external resemblance. It was in this decade that Giacometti adopted the retreat to memory that is now considered so fundamental to his oeuvre. Giacometti's letter reveals how this period was marked by a deep personal and stylistic crisis, which gradually led him to withdraw from traditional sculptural techniques and to experiment with Primitivism, Cubism, and Surrealism. Exhibition: Luxembourg & Dayan, London, United Kingdom (02.02 - 16.04.2016).