Giacometti's legendary studio

As part of the "Le temps de Giacometti (1946-1966)" series

The exhibition "Le temps de Giacometti, 1946-1966" at Les Abattoirs, Musée - Frac Occitanie Toulouse, co-organised with the Fondation Giacometti, takes a fresh look at the art and life of Alberto Giacometti in the post-war period up to his death in 1966.

Thierry Pautot, head of archives and research at the Fondation Giacometti, invites us to take part in a talk on Alberto Giacometti's legendary creative studio. Located on rue Hippolyte Maindron and measuring less than 24m2, it was where the artist lived and worked from the end of 1926 until his death in 1966. Immortalised by some of the world's greatest photographers, it has become a mythical place, a witness to modernity in the Montparnasse district. This talk will focus on Giacometti's relationship with his models, and in particular with Isaku Yanaihara.

In October 1955, Giacometti met a young Japanese philosophy teacher, Isaku Yanaihara (1918-1989). Yanaihara was interested in existentialism. A deep understanding developed between the two men over the months, to the point that Giacometti asked Yanaihara to pose for him in October 1956. He returned in the summers of 1957, 1959, 1960 and 1961. Twenty-one paintings and two busts, as well as numerous drawings, remain from these sessions and others from memory. This extraordinary and life-changing experience is recounted in several of Yanaihara's books.

This lecture is being presented in conjunction with the Rugby World Cup and the Samoa/Japan match to be played in Toulouse on 28 September.

Thierry Pautot
Thierry Pautot has been head of research and archives at the Giacometti Foundation since 2012, and is also in charge of the decorative arts and photographic collections. He has curated a number of exhibitions devoted to Alberto Giacometti, both in France ("Giacometti entre tradition et avant-garde" (Musée Maillol, 2018), "Giacometti, L'homme qui marche" (Institut Giacometti, 2020), "Giacometti et l'Égypte antique" (Institut Giacometti, 2021), and abroad ("Giacometti: From Life", National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 2022).
He is the curator of the exhibition devoted to Annette Giacometti, the artist's wife and founder of the Giacometti Foundation, currently on show at the Institut Giacometti, Paris (until 27 September).
Next year, he is preparing a book devoted to the decorative objects created by Alberto Giacometti.

About the Giacometti Foundation
The Giacometti Foundation is a private foundation of public utility created in 2003. It is the universal legatee of Annette Giacometti, the artist's widow, and owns the world's largest collection of works by Alberto Giacometti, with almost 10,000 works and objects. Based in Paris, it is directed by Catherine Grenier, general curator of heritage and art historian.
The Giacometti Foundation aims to protect, disseminate and promote Giacometti's work. It organises exhibitions, arranges loans in France and abroad, and organises the authentication committee for the artist's works.
The Institut Giacometti is the Giacometti Foundation's current exhibition space, which is also dedicated to art history research and teaching.

https://www.fondation-giacometti.fr/en

Alberto Giacometti, "Portrait d’Isaku Yanaihara", Décembre 1956, Huile sur toile, 55 × 45 cm, Fondation Giacometti © Succession Alberto Giacometti / ADAGP, Paris, 2023