First publication of Alberto Giacometti’s family lettersFeatures also many of the never-before published replies by Alberto’s parents, Giovanni and Annetta GiacomettiOffers fascinating new insights into the personal and artistic evolution of one of Modernity’s greatest artists and brings to life the vibrant Paris art scene of the 1920s and 1930sIllustrated with facsimiles of letters, reproductions of works discussed, and photographs Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966), one of the most significant figures in 20th-century art, was throughout his life closely attached to his family, and in particular to his parents Giovanni and Annetta Giacometti, in their native Swiss village of Stampa. At least once a week, he wrote to his parents to keep them up-to-date on everything important to him, maintaining this routine even when a telephone was installed at their house in the remote Val Bregaglia.

Their entire correspondence comprises more than 1,000 letters. For the first time ever, excerpts from this body of documents are now published in this volume.

They reveal fascinating insights into this close family relationship and the manifold exchanges about core issues of Alberto’s life and work as an artist. The letters tell of his artistic education in Switzerland and the early years in Paris ― his studies at the art academy and encounters with the avant-garde, his joining with and later turning away from the Surrealist movement ― as well as of his search for a new figuration between 1935 and 1946.

Thus, the book provides entirely new knowledge about the evolution and circumstances of one of Modernity’s greatest artists. .