Sketchbook, c. 1922
Skizzenbuch

A small sketchbook from the early years in Paris echoes in character the books from Geneva: ephemeral nudes, scenes in cabarets, studies of heads including self-portraits. Little progress seems to have been made, and the ongoing difficulties are evident; it is scarcely conceivable that the familiar, masterfully analytical nude drawings began during this period.

Giacometti continued to work on the scenes from Greek mythology and the Old Testament that he began in Italy. A number of pages depict schematic, monumental architectures populated by tiny figures; a battle has broken out on a megalomaniac tower construction, seemingly the result of the Babylonian confusion of tongues.

Material
Chalk, pencil; occasionally pencil; additionally ochre: 40v; full cloth, natural colours, with red drawn decor (vertical jagged lines on the front, on the back chequered pattern)
Dimensions
11.6 x 17.2 cm
Creditline
Kunsthaus Zürich, Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung, Donated by Bruno and Odette Giacometti, 2000
Object number
GS 229
Signature
not inscribed
Further information
39 sheets
Provenance