Giacometti - The Nose

Exhibition Catalogue The Nose, presented at the Institut Giacometti, Paris (7 October 2023 - 14 January 2024).

Among Giacometti's masterpieces, The Nose is one of the most intriguing. Whether a grotesque figure reminiscent of the popular Pinocchio, or a vision of death like the related Head on a Stem (1947), The Nose resists being confined to a single meaning. If Giacometti's work from the post-war period is seen as realism, it in fact offers a variety of registers.

By bringing together the different versions of this iconic sculpture, to which Giacometti returned for several years, this book aims to broaden our understanding of it. It unfolds the richness of its meanings, highlighting its multiple cultural roots: vanitas, carnivalesque figures, masks from New Guinea, etc. It also analyses the complex relationship between Giacometti and the artist.

It also analyses Giacometti's complex relationship with anatomy, revealing the place of caricature in his imagination and the importance of anamorphosis, which appeared during his Surrealist period in works such as Pointe à l'oeil (1931-1932).

Echoing this singular sculpture, the striking works of international contemporary artists Rui Chafes, Ange Leccia, Annette Messager and Hiroshi Sugimoto bear witness to its power to fascinate, and shed new light on it.