Paris, 6 September 2011, Art Media Agency (AMA).
The Pinacothèque in Paris will soon unveil its new show, which will offer an insight into the oeuvre of Alberto Giacometti. “Giacometti and the Estruscans” will run from 16 September to 8 January 2012.
Giacometti discovered the Etruscan civilisation during an exhibition at the Louvre in 1955. Amongst the numerous artistic forms developed by the Etruscans, featured a sort of lanky ex–voto, very common during 4 AD, which represented divinities, devout individuals and priests. Their faces, similar to classical Greek models, radically voluntarily contrasted with their disproportioned, long and flat bodies.
This revelation deeply moved the artist, who decided to further explore this people and its art. The sculptor left for Tuscany to further his research and it was at Volterra, the kingdom of Etruria, where Giacometti came across the emblematic work of the Etruscan world: L’ombre du soir, which subsequently influenced some of his most famous artworks.
Via the exhibition, the Parisian museum looks to highlight this particular period of Giacometti’s life, as well as the influence that such discoveries had on his oeuvre. Therefore, over 150 Etruscan objects will accompany L’ombre du soir, all of which will stand alongside over thirty sculptures by the record–breaking artist.