Institut Giacometti Paris | Giacometti and Ancient Egypt

GIACOMETTI AND ANCIENT EGYPT

JUNE 22 – OCTOBER 10, 2021
INSTITUT GIACOMETTI - PARIS, FRANCE

Alberto Giacometti. Thin bust on a Base (Known as Amenophis) 1954
Plaster, 39.7 x 33.1 x 13.7 cm. Fondation Giacometti
© Succession Alberto Giacometti (Fondation Giacometti + ADAGP, Paris) 2021

Looking at Giacometti’s art through the prism of ancient Egyptian art.

Throughout his career, Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) was fascinated by the art of ancient Egypt. Giacometti found inspiration in its rich diversity, from the figure of the scribe to the art of the Amarna period and the Fayum portraits. These figures, sculptures and paintings served both as a repertoire of forms and as an essential element of his aesthetic language.

This exhibition creates a dialogue between Giacometti’s work and the art of ancient Egypt. Sculptures, paintings and drawings by Giacometti being shown for the first time are juxtaposed with exceptional Egyptian pieces on loan from the Louvre’s collections. Unpublished research on the sources used by the artist is also presented. This offers a renewed way of looking at Giacometti’s art through the prism of ancient Egypt, which was a source for Modern art that still remains to be fully explored.

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