[Buste d'Homme assis (Lotar III)]

1965
Alberto Giacometti

Bronze
65,3 x 28,2 x 35,5 cm

It completes a series of three sculptures using as a model Eli Lotar, a photographer and close friend of the artist. The piece is striking: the body that seems wasted away, the exaggerated length of the arms and the intensity of the gaze give the impression of a life departing. Exploring beyond appearances, Giacometti strikes at the heart of the human condition. “It is Giacometti’s work,” wrote Jean Genet, “that for me renders our world even more unbearable, as it seems that this artist has been able to get around what was obscuring his view to discover what will remain of man when all pretences have been removed.”

Hangs

Expressionist and contemplative works

From 17 December 2014 to 18 May 2015
Alberto Giacometti - Selected works from the Collection

Espace Louis Vuitton Beijing

From 7 April 2021 to 26 September 2021
Alberto Giacometti

Espace Louis Vuitton Séoul

From 31 October 2019 to 19 January 2020

Born in Borgonovo (Switzerland) on October 10, 1901, Alberto Giacometti, at an early age, was introduced to Post-Impressionism and Symbolism by his father, a painter. In 1919, he left school to study at the Fine Arts College of Geneva. He moved to France in 1922 where he studied the nude at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, sculpture with Antoine Bourdelle and often visited the Louvre.

His work brought him close to the post-Cubism movement (in particular, Le couple [The couple] (1926) and Femme Cuillère [Spoon Woman] (1927)), and then developed within the Surrealist group (the Boule suspendue [Suspended Ball] sculpture (1930), exhibited at Galerie Pierre alongside works by Joan Miró and Jean Arp, marked this turning point). In 1935, breaking away from avant-garde circles, he began to work exclusively on the living model.

During the World War II, in 1941 he returned to Switzerland where he met his future wife, Annette Arm, who became one of his favorite models. In the after-war period, he started to create new tall and spindly figures. In the 1950s, Giacometti’s reputation grew considerably. In 1956, he represented France at the Venice Biennale where he presented Femmes de Venise [Women of Venice] (he would later win the Biennale’s Grand Prix for Sculpture in 1962). Before leaving Paris for the last time in 1965, Giacometti made three portraits of photographer Eli Lotar, who became his final model. Giacometti died on January 11, 1966 at the Cantonal Hospital of Coire.