DIEGO GIACOMETTI EXHIBITION AT MUSÉE NATIONAL PICASSO PARIS
Diego Giacometti on rue du Moulin Vert, Paris, 1983 © Martine Franck / Magnum Photos
17 MAY - 4 NOVEMBER 2018
After my visit in January visit of the Picasso National Museum in Paris, while I was seeking to chronicle Diego Giacometti’s work and life for a previous article, I was delighted to learn that the museum is preparing these days the exhibition «Diego Giacometti At Musée Picasso» which will take place from May 17 to November 4, 2018.
The exhibition is dedicated entirely to this remarkable artist and will be a unique opportunity to explore the origin of the important commission he received in 1982 to furnish the Hotel Salé, (today the Picasso National Museum in Paris).
TIMELINE
Diego Giacometti was born on November 15, 1902 into a family of artists in Borgovono, Switzerland, one year after his brother, the renowed sculptor Alberto Giacometti. He joined his brother, Alberto in Paris in 1925 where they started to work closely on plaster casts and bronze sculptures in their studio on Rue Hippolyte-Maindron. Soon, they were introduced to the Parisian cultural elite and befriended some of the most proeminent creative personalities of the time, such as Cecil Beaton, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, interior designer Jean-Michel Frank and fashion designer and patron of arts Hubert de Givenchy . Gradually, Diego made a name of his own as a furniture designer, thus after his brother's death in 1966, he started focusing entirely on his own work. During this time he created bespoke objects, sculptures and furniture for friends, interior designers, art collectors and gallery owners. Among his most significant works we count the collection of unique pieces that he created for his long-time friend, Hubert de Givenchy. The impressive collection ‘The Giacometti of Hubert de Givenchy’ was sold in 2017 at Christie’s for EUR 32,748,500.
Another emblematic commission which is considered the pinnacle of Diego Giacometti's artistic manifestation was the refurbishment of the Hôtel Salé that the artist received between 1982 and 1983 and finalised just one year before his death, in July 1985. This superb display at the Hôtel Salé projected Diego Giacometti, who all his life had remained discretely in his brother's shadow, to the attention of the artistic world and public, bringing him instant interest and appreciation. Sadly, he passed away in Paris shortly before the opening of the Picasso Museum.
Installation of the second scale model of the pendant with «folliage motive» at Hôtel Salé, 20 September 1984
Digital reproduction after an original photo negative
©Laurence Berthon-Marceillac/ Musée national Picasso-Paris
Installation of the scale model of lantern on the staircase at Hôtel Salé, November 1982
Digital reproduction after an original photo negative
©Laurence Berthon-Marceillac/ Musée national Picasso-Paris
Bronze bench in the Grand Salon on the first floor of the Hôtel Salé ©Philippe Fuzeau/ Musée National Picasso-Paris
This remarkable collection of 50 pieces comprises benches, tables, chairs, torch lights, and chandeliers, executed with much delicacy in bronze and resin. It was designed exclusively for the museum with the aim to connect the classical interior architecture of the building with the modern art on show and has now become an integral part of the museum’s interior décor.
Diego Giacometti (1902-1985), Bench, executed at Bronze Métier d'Art Foundry, Port-sur-Saône, between 1983-1985, on display at Musée national Picasso-Paris; bronze, 41.5 x 152 x 42 cm
©Philippe Fuzeau/ Musée national Picasso-Paris
Diego Giacometti (1902-1985)
Torch Light [1983-1984], on display at Musée national Picasso-Paris; bronze, 156 x 68 x 24 cm
©Philippe Fuzeau/ Musée national Picasso-Paris
Diego Giacometti (1902-1985)
Chair [1983-1985] made after a model from 1955 and executed at Bronze Métier d'Art Foundry, Port-sur-Saône, on display at Musée national Picasso-Paris; bronze, 81.5 x 48 x 40 cm
©Philippe Fuzeau/ Musée national Picasso-Paris
Diego Giacometti (1902-1985)
Scale model of lantern, half size [1982-1983]; plaster, tow, metallic and paper stems, 90 cm height x 46 cm diameter
©Isabelle Bideau/ Mobilier national
Diego Giacometti (1902-1985)
Bird detail on lantern
Diego Giacometti (1902-1985)
Chandelier with four branches [1982-1984] executed at Robert Haligon Studio, Périgny-sur-Yerres, on display at Musée national Picasso-Paris; white resin, 135 x 140 x 100 cm
©Philippe Fuzeau/ Musée national Picasso-Paris
Diego Giacometti (1902-1985)
Pendant light with folliage motive executed at Robert Haligon Studio, Périgny-sur-Yerres, [1983-1985], on display at Musée national Picasso-Paris; white resin, 180 cm height x 130 cm diameter
©Philippe Fuzeau/ Musée national Picasso-Paris
Furthermore, the exhibition turns the spotlight on Giacometti's studio collection, presented along with a selection of previously unrevealed photographs and archives which come to complement this commission and place it in its own context of creation.
The show will also present the new benches designed for the Musée national Picasso-Paris in partnership with ECAL /Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne and Parisian Studio Tectona .
The new bench designs for the Picasso National Museum, 2018 by ECAL/Isabelle Baudraz and executed by Studio TECTONA ©Matthieu Gafsou
Curators of the exhibition: François Dareau, researcher and Virginie Perdrisot, curator at the Musée National Picasso-Paris
Musée National Picasso - Paris is open to the public every day from 10h30 to 18h00, Monday to Sunday
Address: 5 rue de Thorigny 75003 Paris
Telephone: 33 1 85 56 00 36.
Website: www.museepicassoparis.fr
E-mail: contact@museepicassoparis.fr