Alberto Giacometti, who transformed my life by giving me occasional glimpses of his, naturally comes first in the long list of those to whom his biography owes everything, and no kind of thanks can ever be commensurate. After Alberto, though inevitably right next to him, and thus also beyond the reach of theoretical gratitude, comes his wonderful brother Diego. Without his entire sympathy and support, my undertaking would have had no mainstay.
Bruno Giacometti, the third gifted brother, and his gracious wife, Odette, also gave me unstinting assistance, friendly advice, and hospitality. Merci!
Through the years, I have been sustained by the confidence and encouragement of my mother, Louise B. Lord, and happily take this opportunity to acknowledge a lifelong debt which no gratitude can ever adequately repay. My friends Hilton Kramer, Erich Eichman, and Gilles Roy have also greatly encouraged and counseled me, as have my patient publisher, Roger Straus, and my generous colleagues Michael Brenson, Reinhold Hohl, Ernst Scheidegger, and David Sylvester—to all of whom I humbly offer inadequate thanks. Michael di Capua, my editor, has expertly presided over the preparation of a publishable text, and I hope that my appreciation may be matched by his satisfaction. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation granted me, for the purpose of pursuing my work, a fellowship, for which I am most grateful.
Although I would like to, I can hardly try to specify all the kinds of help I received from the many, many people who deserve my thanks. Some of them are no longer living. Some, indeed, were dead before I began my book, or even, like Braque, for instance, were gone before Alberto was. But I feel it appropriate to include their names because their views and beliefs concerning Giacometti contributed to the formation of my own. Moreover, I mean to suggest that in a very basic sense this book is the outcome of a prolonged and vital collaboration. For their extremely varied and quite indispensable participation in it, I offer my gratitude to the following persons, institutions, and organizations:
Lady Iya Abdy, Sir Harold Acton, Pierre Alechinsky, Paul Alexandre, Georges Altschuler, Annie Anargyros, Michel Anthonioz, Louis Aragon, Alexander Ardacheff, Avigdor Arikha, Henri and Germaine Arm, Dominique Arnhulf-Duhot, Dr. Dana Atchley, André Aulagnier, Georges and Nora
Auric, Ivan von Auw, Jr., Cecilia Ayala, Administration Générale de l’Assistance Publique de Paris, Archives de la Ville de Nice
Francis Bacon, Marc and Olga Barbezat, François and Carmen Baron, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Many Barthod, Laurence Bataille, Olivier Beard du Dézert, Patricia de Beauvais, Simone de Beauvoir, Hans Bechtler, Samuel Beckett, Maurice Béjart, Denise Bellon, Loleh Bellon, Simon Bérard, Gaston and Bettina Bergery, Heinz Berggruen, Jeffery Bernard, Georges Bernier, Christoph and Alice Bernoulli, Dr. Silvio Berthoud, Jacques Bestock, Ernst Beyeler, Paul Bianchini, Carmelo Binelli, Emmanuel Blanc, Olivier Blanc, Ronald Blunden, Dominique Boischot, Yolé Bolognesi, Yves Bonnefoy, Georges Borgeaud, Pierre Boudreau, Bo Boustedt, Georges Braque, Elisa Breton, P. Brochet, Frederick Brown, Corinne Browne, Pierre Bruguiere, Camille Bryen, Bernard Buffet, Gordon Bunshaft, Dr. Robert and Ruth Conne Buol, Jean Burguburu, Constantin Byzantios, Bibliotheque Doucet (Paris), Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris)
Gabrielle Cabrini, Paule Cailac, Alexander Calder, Mary Callery, Bixio Candolfi, Paola Caròla, Henri and Martine Cartier-Bresson, Nicole Cartier-Bresson, Leo Castelli, Roger Cazes, Marko and Vreni Celebonovitch, William Chattaway, André Civet, Max Clarac, Barbara Clark, Lord Clark, Jean Clay, Lóuis Clayeux, Jean Cocteau, Estelle Cohn, Louis Conne, Jean Constantin, Dr. Serafino Corbetta, Thomas Cordell, Dominique Cornwell, Marguerite Cossaceanu, Gilberte Cournand, Robert Craft, John Craxton, Dr. Jacques Cresciucci, Elisabeth Cunnick
Michel David-Weill, Edmonde Charles-Roux Defferre, Lise Deharme, Jean Denoel, Jean-Loup Despras, Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, Jane Diel, Marlene Dietrich, Nelly van Doesberg, Sina Giacometti Dolfi, Charles Dormoy, Vera Drascek, Walter Dräyer, Jean-Marie Drôt, Jacques Dubourg, Alexina Duchamp, A. Duchenne, Charles and Clara Ducloz, Guy Dumur, Jacques Dupin, Georgette Dupont, Marguerite Duthuit
Christoph Egli, Hedwig Egli, Efstratios and Alice Eleftheriades (Tériade), Abdelkader Elifilali, Robert Elkon, Nina Engel, Edwin Engelberts, Max and Dorothea Ernst, Jo Excoffier
Louis Fernández, Jacques Fieschi, Leonor Fini, Wynne Fooshee, Jean Fournier, Dr. Michel Fraenkel, Lemon Friedman
Bianca Giacometti Galante, F. Gantenbein, Paul Gardner, Maurice Garnier, Arnold and Elisabeth Geissbuhler, Jean Genet, Annette Giacometti, Guido Giacometti, Tullio Giacometti, Thomas Gibson, Diego Giovanoli, E. H. Gombrich, André and Henriette Gomès, Carmen Gomezplata, J. Wilder Green, Randall Green, Georges Gruber, Philippe Grunchec, Peggy Guggenheim, Baron de Gunzburg, Dr. Paul Gut, Goethe Institut (Paris)
Larry Hager, Ulrich Hagmann, Claude Bernard Haim, Nadine Haim, Gyula Halász (Brassai), Gisèle Halimi, Janine Hao, Jacques Hartmann, Jean Helion, John Hewett, H. P. Horst, Georges Hugnet, Jean Hugues, Huguette, Bruce Hunter, Jacqueline Hyde
Dr. Gabriel Illouz, Institut Suisse de Meteorologie
Pierre Jacob (Tal Coat), André and Léni Jaecklin, H. P. Jaeger,
T. G. H. James, Sidney Janis, Dorris Janowitz, Maurice Jardot, K. A. Jelenski, Pierre Josse, Pierre-Jean Jouve, Dr. Albert Jung
Ellsworth Kelly, Wilhelm Kirchner, Michel Balthasar Klossowski (Balthus), Pierre and Denise Klossowski, Marie-Thérèse Kobayashi-Moreau, Rainer Köchermann, Harold Kollmeier, E. W. Kornfeld, Catharine Kroger, David Kronig, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (The Hague)
Dr. Jacques and Sylvia Bataille Lacan, Mariette Lachaud, Jean-Pierre Lacloche, Jean Lagrolet, Jacqueline Lamba, Dr. Robert Lander, Marguerite Lang, Monique Lange, Claude Laurens, Jean Laurent, Léna Leclercq, Maurice Lefebvre-Foinet, Dr. Raymond Leibovici, René Leibowitz, Michel Leiris, Daniel Lelong, Julien Levy, Jean Leymarie, Pierre and Elizabeth Leyris, Alexander Liberman, William S. Lieberman, Aline Lignieres, Richard Lindner, Jacques Lipchitz, Mary Littauer, Antoine Livio, Albert Loeb, Edouard Loeb, Pierre Loeb, Bennett Lord, Elie and Elisabeth Lotar, Jeanne Louis-Dreyfus, William and Phyllis Louis-Dreyfus, Herbert Lust
Lillian McClintock, Robert McCrum, Hedli MacNeice, Malcolm Mac-Pherson, Aimé and Marguerite Maeght, Olivier de Magny, Andrée Mallet-Stevens, Joyce Mansour, Jean Marais, Jean-Patrice Marandel, Dr. N. G. Markoff, Theodora Markovic (Dora Maar), Charles Marks, Raymond Mason, Sylvaine Massart-Weit, André and Rose Masson, Gregory and Shirley Masurovsky, Peter Matisse, Pierre and Patricia Matisse, Hans von Matt, Serge Matta, Herbert and Mercedes Matter, Hélène Maurice-Bokanowski, William Maxwell, Flora L. Mayo, Bruni Mayor, G. Mazeau, H. Mélandri, James R. Mellow, Dr. Franz Meyer, Gerda Michaelis, Peggy Miller, Bernard Minoret, Joan Miró, Joan Mitchell, Roger Montandon, Henry Moore, David Morton, Dr. Werner Muensterberger, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (The Hague)
Claude Nabokoff, Maurice Nadeau, Nelda Negrini, Yannis Nicolettos, Viscount and Viscountess de Noailles, National Tourist Office of Switzerland, the New York Public Library
Dorothy Olding, Meret Oppenheim, Sonia Orwell, Arthur Ott
Giuliano Pedretti, Sir Roland and Lady Penrose, Emmanuel Péreire, Jacques Perez y Jorba, John Perkins, Frank Perls, Alessandro Perrone, Cesare Peverelli, Claude Picasso, Pablo Picasso, Paul and Christine Picasso, Gaetan and Genevieve Picon, Georges Pierre, Henry Pillsbury, Georges Plenel, Jacques Pligot, Jacques Prévert, André Puig, Police Department of Chur (Switzerland), Police Department of Paris (France)
Mercedes Quesada-Brujas
Pierini and Erica Ratti, Dr. Reto Ratti, Charles Ratton, Alan and Isabel Rawsthorne, Man Ray, Gérard Régnier, Madeleine Repond, John and Alice Rewald, A. E. M. Ribberink, Michel Richard, David Rieff, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Georges-Henri Riviere, H. K. Roethel, Gilles Roignant, Henri Rol-Tanguy, Count de Rola, Alexander Rosenberg, Béatrice Rosenberg, Stephen and Grazia Rosenberg, Jean-Régis Roustan, Gaston-Louis and Pauline Roux, Claude Roy, Angelica Rudenstine, Georges Rudier, Véra Russell, Georg Rutishauser, Philip Rylands
Ruta Sadoul, Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury, Dr. Jonas and Francoise Gilot Salk, Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, Jean-Paul Sartre, Henri Sauguet, Hal Scharlatt, Elsa Schiaparelli, Pierre Schneider, Jacqueline Schuman, Henry and Akiko Scott Stokes, Sherban Sidéry, Jonathan Silver, Barbara Simpson, Barbara Skelton, Albert Skira, Giorgio Soavi, P. C. Soeters, Mate Souverbie, Pierre Souvtchinsky, Ginette Spanier, Sir Stephen Spender, Darthea Speyer, Simon Spierer, Francis Steegmuller, Christian Stiébel, Rita Stoppani, Marianne Strauss, Samuel Szafran; Secretariat of the City Hall of Etampes (France), of the City Hall of the 14th arrondissement (Paris), of the City Hall of the 16th arrondissement (Paris), of the Commune of Stampa (Switzerland), of the Evangelische Mittelschule (Schiers, Switzerland), of the Galerie Maeght (Paris), of the Grand Hôtel des Alpes (Madonna di Campiglio, Italy), of the Grand Hotel Universo (Naples, Italy), of the Hôpital Bichat (Paris), of the Italian Embassy (Paris), of the French Line (Paris), of the Marguerite and Aime Maeght Foundation (Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France), of the Musée Bourdelle (Paris), of Nice-Matin, of the Palais de Justice (Paris), of the Parish Office of Pinzolo-Madonna di Campiglio (Italy), of the Remy de Gourmont Clinic (Paris), of the Town Hall of Pinzolo-Madonna di Campiglio (Italy), of the Town Hall of Somloire (France); Service Météorologique Métropolitain de Paris, Services des Recherches d’Etat Civil de la Ville de Paris, Soprintendenza alle Anthichita delle Provincie di Napoli e Caserta (Italy), Syndicat d’Initiative du Haut-Morvan (France)
Francis Tailleux, Yvonne Tamagno, Craig Tenney, Eugene Victor Thaw, André Thirion, G. David and Helene Thompson, Frédérique Tison, Jean-Max Toubeau, Yvon and Monique Toussaint, Antonio Trincali, Televisione della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano, Switzerland)
Alfred Urfer
Sinbad Vail, Claude Venard, Michèle Vian, G. Vimard, Countess Madina Visconti, Ruth Vollmer, Jean Vuillcumier
Patrick Waldberg, Philippe Walther, Rudi Walther, Silvio Walther, Michael Ward, Lynn Warshow, Ruth Washburn, Peter Watson, Antoinette de Watteville, William Weaver, Charlotte Weidler, Sabine Weiss, Michael Werner, Robert and Marion Wernick, Herta Wescher, Lawrence and Margot Whiffin, S. John Woods
Panayotis and Helen Xenos
Isaku Yanaihara, Jacqueline Yudelowitz
Ilya Zdanevitch (Iliazd), Christian Zervos, Francois de Ziegler, Gustav Zumsteg
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published texts:
Marc Barbezat: excerpt from L’atelier d’Alberto Giacometti by Jean Genet (Paris: L’Arbalète, 1963)
Editions Gallimard: excerpt from Les Mots by Jean-Paul Sartre, © 1964 by Editions Gallimard
The Paris Review: excerpt from “Giacometti at the Salon d’Auto” (“La voiture demystifiee”) by Alberto Giacometti, published in The Paris Review, No. 18 (Spring 1958)
Ernst Scheidegger: excerpts from “Hier, sables mouvants” and “Le rêve, le Sphinx et la mort de T.” by Alberto Giacometti, published in Schriften, Fotos, Zeichnungen, edited by Ernst Scheidegger (Zurich: Verlag der Arche, 1958)
Pierre Schneider: excerpts from his interviews “‘Man Longue Marche’ par Alberto Giacometti,” published in L’Express, No. 521 (June 8, 1961), and “Au Louvre avec Giacometti,” published in Preuves, No. 139 (September 1962)
Alice Tériade: excerpts from Paris sans Fin (Paris: Tériade, 1969) and “Mai 1920,” published in Verve 7 (January 15, 1953), both by Alberto Giacometti
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reproduce the photographs that follow page 144 and page 304:
The Giacometti family in 1909: the Giacometti family; Portrait of the Artist’s Mother (1927): Alberto Giacometti-Foundation, Kunstmuseum Basel
The studio and residence in Stampa: Ernst Scheidegger; Giacometti in Rome: the Giacometti family
Torso: Walter Drayer/Alberto Giacometti-Foundation, Kunstmuseum Basel; The Spoon Woman: Alberto Giacometti-Foundation, Kunsthaus Zurich; The Couple (1926, bronze, 231/2 x 15 x 145/8): Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Blanchette Rockefeller Fund; Personages: Beyeler Gallery; Giacometti in 1922: photographer unknown
Woman Dreaming: Atelier Eidenbenz, Basel; Giacometti and Flora Mayo: Flora Mayo; Giacometti’s studio: Sabine Weiss; Man and Woman: Walter Drayer
Isabel Nicholas: Isabel Rawsthorne
Gazing Head: Beyeler Gallery; Giacometti’s first sculpture: Ernst Scheidegger; Diego Giacometti in 1934: photographer unknown
No More Play: Robert E. Mates; The Suspended Ball: Beyeler Gallery; The Cage: Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Point to the Eye: Ernst Scheidegger; Figure: photograph taken by James Lord
Hand Caught by the Fingers: Beyeler Gallery; Woman with Her Throat Cut: Walter Dräyer/Alberto Giacometti-Foundation, Kunstmuseum Basel; The Palace at 4 a.m. (1932-33, construction in wood, glass, wire, string, 25 x 28¼ x 15¾): Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Walking Woman: John Webb; The Invisible Object: Ernst Scheidegger
Apple on a Sideboard: Pierre Matisse Gallery
Portrait of the Artist’s Mother (1937): Pierre Matisse Gallery
The Chariot (1943): Ernst Scheidegger; sculptures in Giacometti’s studio: © Brassai
Man Pointing: Prudence Cuming Associates; Night: Universitatsbibliothek Basel; Tall Figure: Tate Gallery, London
The Nose: Beyeler Gallery; Head on a Rod: Prudence Cuming Associates; The Chariot (1950): Prudence Cuming Associates
Giacometti with his wife and brother: Alexander Liberman; The City Square: Prudence Cuming Associates; Women of Venice: Walter Drayer
Yanaihara: Eric Pollitzer; Tall Figure IV: Beyeler Gallery; The Leg: Prudence Cuming Associates; Walking Man I: Prudence Cuming Associates
Giacometti and his wife: Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum; Annette IV: Eric Pollitzer; Caroline: Tate Gallery, London; Annette (1962, oil on canvas, 363/8 x 287/8): The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection, gift to The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Giacometti and his mother: Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum; Giacometti and Caroline: photographer unknown; Giacometti and Samuel Beckett: Georges Pierre
Giacometti in 1961: Jean-Régis Roustan; Giacometti’s tomb: Michael Brenson