Hands Holding a Void

1932

First solo exhibition

Giacometti’s first solo exhibition took place in 1932, five years after his works were shown at the Salon des Tuileries.

1935

The end of his Surrealist period

In 1935 the artist turned his back on Surrealism and disowned all his works from that period, calling them “a complete dead end” (by other accounts, he was expelled from the group).

1935–1940

A two-week study stretches over five years

Wanting to return to compositions with figures, Giacometti took a model in 1935, expecting to finish in two weeks, but worked with the model all day until 1940. “Nothing was as I imagined,” he recalled; a head became for him an object completely unknown and without dimensions.

1936–1940

The head and the sitter’s gaze

In 1936–1940 Giacometti concentrated on the sculpted head, studying the sitter’s gaze; he preferred models he was close to — his sister and the artist Isabel Rawsthorne (then Isabel Delmer). Later his statues of Isabel became stretched out, her limbs elongated.