Giacometti Lives on in Paris

Fifty years after Alberto Giacometti’s death, the artist lives on in Paris with the opening of an institute bearing his name. From June 21 onwards, the museum will serve as an exhibition space for the 350 sculptures, 90 paintings and thousands of drawings, etchings and decorative art objects collected by the Giacometti Foundation.

And yet, one of the biggest highlights of the new institution is the reconstruction of the artist’s studio. Along with his furniture and murals, the space will also display a series of works in plaster and clay that, due to their fragility, had never been shown to the public before. Its walls, covered with drawings, bear witness to several decades of work, as they contain notes on his creative process. Surrounded by ultra-transparent glass elements with preservation in mind, the architectural design allows visitors to feel close to the studio.

The Institute opens with The Studio of Alberto Giacometti by Jean Genet, an exhibition dedicated to the artistically productive friendship that sprung between them after being introduced by Jean-Paul Sartre in 1954.

The second exhibition, opening in October, will focus on career highlights and new work by Annette Messager, the winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2005 for her installation at the French Pavilion.

And as the space can only hold so much at one time, the Institute will now provide access to the Giacometti Foundation’s collection of more than five thousand drawings, lithographs and personal notebooks by the artist, never before seen by the public. Although they will be featured in regular exhibitions, visitors will now be able to request them for private viewing at any time.

The Giacometti Institute opens on June 21 at 5 Rue Victor Schoelcher. Visits can be made by online reservation.