In spring 2024, you had the chance to experience an exhibition featuring the famous Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti. Through masterpieces in sculpture and drawing, the exhibition focused on Giacometti’s fascination with what one truly sees when looking.

Famous long limbs

Tall, slender figures with raw, organic surfaces. Giacometti (1901-1966) is internationally known for his iconic depictions of long-limbed human figures. The sculptures, displayed in some of the world’s largest museums, are a significant reason for Giacometti’s fame—both in his time and today, where he is considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. However, his art also spans painting, graphics, and drawing.

The obsession with the visible

The exhibition unfolded Giacometti’s lifelong obsession with human visual experience. In his art, Giacometti dedicatedly struggled to capture the world as he saw and experienced it. And he was uncompromising in his pursuit. Often, he would overpaint his works and create countless drafts of the same portrait.

He described his endless project in these words:

It’s as though reality were always behind a curtain that you pull away … There’s always another … and another. But I have the impression, or perhaps it’s an illusion, that I’m making some progress every day. That’s what makes me take action, as though you had well and truly to succeed in understanding the core of life.

The exhibition gave a unique insight into Giacometti’s sculptures, drawings, and paintings, shaped by philosophy and the upheavals of two world wars.

Photo: Alberto Giacometti. The Forest. 1950. Fondation Giacometti © Succession Alberto Giacometti / Adagp, Paris, 2024