Alberto Giacometti

by Mercedes (text) & Herbert Matter (photos) Matter, Mercedes Matter

In 1960 photographer and designer Herbert Matter made his first visit to Alberto Giacometti's Paris studio and began to create a body of photographs of the renowned artist's work and milieu that both men hoped to see published in book form. Giacometti was astounded by the photographs and told Matter that they enabled him to see his own work in a new light, that they illuminated aspects of his sculptures that he himself had never recognized. In a letter to the photographer, he described the photographs as "each one...a creation in itself, one more beautiful than another."Making these photographs occupied Matter for the next five years; the design of the book and preparations for its publication continued until his death in 1984. Now, more than twenty years after he began, the results of Matter's efforts are finally gathered in this volume.Reproduced here are many of Giacometti's finest works—from the monumental Standing Woman of 1984, to numerous busts of his brother Diego of the 1950s, to the powerful late busts of the 1960s—all sensitively interpreted through Matter's lens. Giacometti's painted portraits of many of the same subjects as the sculptures—his wife, Annette; Diego; the professor Isaku Yanaihara—are an instructive addition to the book. And images of the artist's homeland, the mountainous landscape around Stampa, Switzerland, and his cluttered studio in Paris, filled with objects in various states of completion, add yet another dimension to this study of his art.Complementing the photographs are a preface by Matter himself; brief perceptive texts by art critics Andrew Forge and Louis Finkelstein; and a personal, anecdotal overview of Giacometti's life and career by Mercedes Matter, Herbert Matter's widow.180 duotone photographs, and 45 plates in full color

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1987

Reviews

[Lindsay Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgoing illusions of neutrality, and acknowledging difficulties in replicating the experience of sculpture in two static dimensions, one artist renders in a new form the work of another. More than simply a well designed art book, this is a story of mutual admiration, a product of thoughtful collaboration, and a study in the convergence of talents.

I believe this book provides valuable insight on many levels for designers, photographers, sculptors, and artists, especially those grappling with documentation of works existing in 3 or 4 dimensions. It is also a book I would kill love to have on my coffee table.

Disclaimer: This review does not consider Mercedes Matter's written segment, which I have yet to read.