Philatelic document - Alberto Giacometti

Elongated silhouettes, bodies but also busts and faces in infinite space, mental space as much as physical space, space that can be delimited by lines but which these figures inhabit above all. The figures are first offered up to perception, uncluttered, almost minimal, reduced to a line, a drawing. These works absorb their surroundings, so attractive is the material, marked by the gesture, and where time condenses, stops, as if the gaze had penetrated the essence of a pure appearance. Alberto Giacometti's sculptures are immediately recognizable, and can be found in the collections of the world's greatest museums. They radiate presence and absence, calling for silence, contemplation of the body, proportions, the face of course, movement or immobility. They crown a long and varied career in painting, drawing, sculpture and engraving. Giacometti's career was influenced by his father's art in his native Switzerland, then by his move to Paris in 1922, where he studied in Antoine Bourdelle's studio. He discovered the modern avant-garde, African art and Egyptian Antiquity, and became close friends with artists such as Henri Laurens and Ossip Zadkine. The Surrealism of André Breton, whose group he joined from 1931 to 1935, also influenced his conception of the object. But he was already interested in the representation of the figure and the gaze, one of the major themes of his thinking. This can already be seen in his sculptures, which shrink in size before growing again, because perspective is everything. It's also apparent in his post-war portraits of friends and confidants, from Michel Leiris to Jean Genet and Isaku Yanaihara, the Japanese philosopher, poet and translator of Sartre, who himself devoted several essays to him. By the time he died in 1966, he had established a style that set him apart from his contemporaries, who were engaged in the early stages of pop art, minimalism and conceptual art. He remains an absolute master of the 20th century. Antoine Vigne

Timbre (taille-douce) : Œuvre : Alberto Giacometti, Homme traversant une place par un matin de soleil, 1950 © Succession Alberto Giacometti / Adagp, Paris 2026. Photo : © Christie’s / Artothek / La Collection. Mise en page : Pierre Albuisson. Gravure : Sarah Lazarevic. Document philatélique : Photographie : Annette Giacometti, Alberto Giacometti avec le plâtre de la Grande femme IV dans la cour de l’atelier, août 1960 © Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris © Succession Alberto Giacometti / Adagp, Paris 2026. Mise en page : Pierre Albuisson.