Alberto Giacometti
Modernist Pioneer

17.10.2014 - 26.01.2015

An exhibition in cooperation with the Kunsthaus Zürich and the Alberto Giacometti Foundation, Zurich

MOST IMPORTANT SCULPTOR OF THE 20TH CENTURY

The Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (born in 1901 in Borgonovo near Stampa, died in 1966 in Chur) is among the most important artists of the 20th century. With the exhibition »Alberto Giacometti. Modernist Pioneer«, the Leopold Museum shines the spotlight on an artist who is considered by many to be the most eminent sculptor of the 20th century. Today, Giacometti’s works fetch record prices on the international art market. His sculpture »L’homme qui marche I (Walking Man I)« sold at Sotheby’s in 2010 for approximately 104 million Dollars (74 million Euros), the highest price ever paid for a sculpture. It has recently come to light that Sotheby’s will put Giacometti’s work »Chariot « up for sale at an upcoming auction. The estimated value of this work is around 100 million Dollars (80 million Euros), a sale that is likely to surpass the existing record.

Overview of all periods of the artist’s oeuvre

The Giacometti exhibition at the Leopold Museum affords a comprehensive overview of the eminent Swiss artist’s impressive oeuvre. The last time that Viennese audiences saw such a great range of works by Alberto Giacometti was at the retrospective curated by Toni Stooss and held at the Kunsthalle Wien in 1996. The current exhibition »ALBERTO GIACOMETTI. Modernist Pioneer« presents sculptures, paintings and drawings by Giacometti and features works from his early Cubist period and Surrealist phase all the way to the late, at times monumental sculptures created from the 1940s, which are considered today to be among the most important creations of Modernist art. The presentation comprises some 150 objects and is complemented with works by
Giacometti’s companions and contemporaries.

Curators:
Franz Smola, Philippe Büttner

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