Surrealist Giacometti
Objects like Sculptures

The exhibition “Surrealist Giacometti: Objects like Sculptures” offers a unique perspective on Alberto Giacometti’s surrealist period (1929–1935), during which the artist also explored the creation of decorative art objects.

Sculptures and decorative art objects created by Alberto Giacometti

By bringing together major surrealist sculptures by Alberto Giacometti and his rarely exhibited decorative objects, the exhibition sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of his practice and reveals the porosity between these fields of creation.

While the artist’s surrealist works are well known today, it is less widely known that Alberto Giacometti was also involved in creating decorative art objects—light fixtures, andirons, and vases—for Jean-Michel Frank, the renowned Parisian interior designer.

Although they fall within the realm of interior design, these creations bear the mark of Giacometti’s surrealist imagination, evident in both their forms and their themes. Conversely, his decorative work sometimes informs his surrealist sculptures, which incorporate certain forms drawn from his functional objects.

A comparison of two artistic practices by Alberto Giacometti

Long considered distinct, these two practices are juxtaposed here.

The exhibition reveals just how closely they are intertwined and how they enrich one another—in their forms, their themes, and even in the very principles of their design.

A selection of photographs, archival materials, and graphic works rounds out the exhibition.

I realized that I was working on a vase in exactly the same way as I did with sculptures, and that there was no difference between what I called a sculpture and what was simply an object—a vase!
Alberto Giacometti. Interview with André Parinaud, 1962