The school exercise books reveal an attentive and diligent pupil. The zoology book is maintained with especially loving care: a vignette on the title page shows a family of pigs walking through a wood, while delicate pen sketches on subsequent pages illustrate the various types of animal. It is tempting to see here forerunners of later developments: a mole’s tunnel network, for example, calls to mind the ‘Projet pour un passage’ (GS 020). The idea of inner vision is also present: in a surprising reversal it is the giraffe that is thinking about the zoology professor, and not vice versa. The teacher, with his large beard, must have fascinated Giacometti, who depicted him a number of times – including on later pages of this book.

Material

Purple ink; in black 1, Vignette 2r; aditionally pencil 12v, 14r, 15r, 16v, 1v; ab 30: pencil, additionally ink 26v, blue ink: third cover page

Dimensions

22.0 x 17.8 cm

Creditline

Kunsthaus Zürich, Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung, Donated by Bruno and Odette Giacometti, 2000

Object number

GS 221

Signature

not inscribed

Further information

36 sheets

Provenance