Alberto GIACOMETTI
1901–1966, Switzerland/Italy

Also known as: AG

1950

Signature proven counterfeit

Details

Police Authority Stockholm City

Verdict of guilty 0201-K240818-08

English Swedish

Sculpture in bronze, 16x23x13 cm, motive shows a runner in starting position, signed "AG", ostensibly, picturing an authentic sculpture made by Alberto Giacometti. The sculpture was found during searches in Mr. "MS" home in 2008. Police also found several counterfeit paintings by famous artists who were seized. The sculpture is marked "AG" and the base is marked "Alberto Giacometti N-XI 1950". There was also a manipulated letter regarding the sculpture, a receipt for the purchase of the sculpture where the word "to" is written in retrospect with a different pen, and signed by Mr. "MS" himself. A handwritten list "References" indicating that the sculpture have been to Vällingby Konsthall 1972, at Bukowskis auctions in 2002 and 2003 at Gallery Art & Design. The police also found tampered Journal of pictures from the 1950s depicting Alberto Giacometti and pictures of the sculpture which subsequently been inserted and a letter from the auction house Christie's who is skeptical about the sculpture is genuine and declines a sale. The police will also find a contract where "MS" gives another person the task of selling the sculpture. The District Court's assessment: The sculpture has been examined by experts who found no similarities from Giacometti 1950s production, and all papers and documents around the sculpture is manipulated, it is concluded that the sculpture is a fake and not an original work of Alberto Giacometti nor signed by him. "MS" is intended to mislead and lull the market into that the sculpture is genuine and made by the artist Alberto Giacometti, causing great harm to a buyer. The crime is considered serious fraud that give "MS" one year in prison.

1955

Signature considered genuine

1955

Signature considered genuine

1955

Signature considered genuine

1959-1960

Signature considered genuine

1960

Signature considered genuine

1962

Signature considered genuine

1964

Signature considered genuine

Name Alberto GIACOMETTI

Birth 1901, 10/10, Switzerland

Died 1966, 11/1, Switzerland

German English

Alberto Giacometti wird am 10.10.1901 im schweizerischen Borgonovo als Sohn des neoimpressionistischen Malers Giovanni Giacometti geboren. 1919 beginnt er in Genf ein Kunststudium an der École des Beaux-Arts sowie an der École des Arts Industriels. 1922 geht Alberto Giacometti nach Paris, wo er biss 1925 an der Académie de la Grande Chaumière die Bildhauerklasse von Antoine Bourdelle besucht.
Ab 1925 bezieht er gemeinsam mit seinem Bruder Diego ein Atelier in Paris. In den folgenden Jahren lernt Giacometti an den Beispielen der postkubistischen Bildhauerei, etwa von Jacques Lipchitz und Constantin Brancusi, selbst großzügiger und plastisch-räumlicher zu arbeiten. Ab 1925 orientiert sich Alberto Giacometti auch an der plastischen Kunst der Naturvölker, wie an dem im Jahr 1925 entstandenen Torso abzulesen ist.
Ab 1926 entstehen die "Plates" – abgeflachte Figuren in dünner Scheibenform, so etwa das Werk Femme-cuiller von 1926-27, mit nahezu glatter Oberfläche, auch Gips oder in Marmor umgesetzt. Mit diesen Arbeiten erregt Alberto Giacometti auch die Aufmerksamkeit des Pariser Surrealisten-Kreises. Er schließt sich ihnen vorübergehend an, nimmt auch an deren Ausstellungen teil, bis es 1934 zum Bruch kommt. In dieser Zeit entstehen surrealistische Plastiken und auch Zeichnungen.
In der zweiten Hälfte der 1930er Jahre arbeitet Alberto Giacometti an Kopfstudien. Seine Figuren werden immer kleiner, mitunter nur zentimetergroß. Daneben entstehen Gemälde und Zeichnungen, das malerische Werk ist für ihn später durchaus von gleichrangiger Bedeutung. Seinen Lebensunterhalt verdient sich Alberto Giacometti gemeinsam mit seinem Bruder Diego Giacometti mit Entwürfen für Lampen und Möbel, die sie für den Pariser Innendekorateur Jean-Michel Frank anfertigen.
Die Kriegsjahre 1939-45 verbringt Alberto Giacometti in Genf. Dann kehrt er nach Paris zurück, wo nun dünne, fasst masse- und gewichtslose sowie gelängte Figuren aus Bronze entstehen, deren Magerkeit noch verstärkt wird durch einen vergleichsweise kompakten Unterbau, auf den Giacometti die Gestalten setzt. Alberto Giacometti findet zu seinem so unverwechselbaren Stil, verleiht durch die Reduktion und die ungeheure Verdichtung seinen Figuren ein Höchstmaß an Ausdruck. Das Verhältnis zwischen Figur und Raum wird zum Kernthema der künstlerischen Arbeit.
1948 findet in New York in der Pierre Matisse Gallery die erste Einzelausstellung statt, in der die stabdünnen Plastiken zu sehen sind. Sie wird zum großen Erfolg und bringt den künstlerischen Durchbruch.
1958-65 entsteht die Folge von 150 Lithografien "Paris sans fin". Das malerische Werk beinhaltet zahlreiche Bildnisse seines Bruders, seiner Frau und von Freunden, Landschaften, Stillleben sowie Atelierbilder. Vorherrschend besonders in den Bildnissen ist auch hier das Spannungsverhältnis der schlanken Gestalt zu Fläche und Bildraum.
Alberto Giacometti stirbt am 11.1.1966 in Chur.

Source: http://www.alberto--giacometti.de/

Alberto Giacometti was born son of the neo-impressionist painter Giovanni Giacometti in the Swiss town of Borgonovo on October 10, 1901. He begins his art studies at the École des Beaux-Arts and the École des Arts Industriels in Geneva in 1919. Three years later he goes to Paris, where he attends the sculpting class of Antoine Bourdelle at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière until 1925.
He starts his first studio together with his brother in Paris in 1925. His sculpting style becomes more lavish and spacious, following the post-cubist sculptures of, for example, Jacques Lipchitz and Constantin Brancusi. As of 1925 he finds inspiration in plastic art of primitive people, as can be observed on the torso from 1925.
He executes the "Plates" as of 1926 - flat figures in form of thin slices, for instance the work Femme-cuiller from 1926-27, with an almost smooth and even surface, he also uses gypsum and marble for these objects that call the attention of the Paris circle of surrealists. He joins them for some time, also showing works in their exhibitions, until they break up in 1934. During this period he makes a lot of surrealist plastics and also drawings.
In the second half of the 1930s Alberto Giacometti works a lot on studies of heads. His figures get smaller and smaller in size, sometimes they are not bigger than just a few centimeters, but painting remains a just as important means of artistic expression for him. He and his brother Diego earn a living by making designs for lamps and furniture for the Parisian interior architect Jean-Michel Frank.
Alberto Giacometti spends the war years from 1939 to 1945 in Geneva. After the war he returns to Paris where he starts to create bronze objects that are thin and elongated, almost appearing as if they were without weight and inertia, their meager impression is increased by the contrast with the rather compact bases that Giacometti places them on. Alberto Giacometti finds his own unmistakable style, giving his figures a maximum in expression by reducing and densifying them. The relation between figure and space becomes the central issue of his artistic work.
His first one-man show takes places at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York in 1948, in which he presents the skinny figures. The exhibition is a major success and marks his breakthrough.
The series of 150 lithographs titled "Paris sans fin" is made from 1958 to 1965. His oeuvre of paintings comprises numerous portraits of his brother, his wife and friends, but also still lifes, landscapes and studio pictures. Just as with his sculptures, the predominant theme of his paintings is the relation between the slim object and space.
Alberto Giacometti dies in Chur on January 11, 1966.

Source: http://www.alberto--giacometti.com/