Alberto Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti's story is well known: Born in 1901 as the son of the famous painter Giovanni Giacometti, Alberto grew up in Bergell together with his siblings Bruno, Diego and Otilia. His attachment to his hometown Stampa will accompany him throughout his life, as he returns time and again to visit his family and pursue his artistic work.
Already in childhood Alberto came into contact with artists such as Cuno Amiet and Ferdinand Hodler through family friendships; his talent was recognized and promoted early by his father. After attending the boarding school in Schiers, he spent time in Italy, studying the works of Tintoretto and Giotto as well as antiquity. In 1922 he finally moved to Paris, where he learned his trade from the sculptor Bourdelle and three years later moved into a studio together with his brother Diego. Despite close contact with influential artists, writers and philosophers, Alberto's success is limited and his income remains uncertain. This will only change after the successful exhibition at the Matisse Gallery in New York in 1948, followed by acquisitions by Georg Schmidt for the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, exhibitions at the MoMA and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Amsterdam, London, Bern and Basel.
Alberto Giacometti died in hospital on 11 January 1966. His preserved work - all the more expressive in its immense reduction - is and remains formative for the 20th century.