ALBERTO GIACOMETTI - sculpture, drawings, lithographs "Portraits of the Present"

Within the series “The greatest sculptors of the 20th century”, after a brilliant exhibition of Miró, and Rodin, the Art Pavilion will present a great virtuoso sculpture - Alberto Giacometti (1901 – 1966) in the year 2016. Visitors to the Art Pavilion will have the unique opportunity to see Giacometti's works borrowed from the French Foundation Maeght - twenty drawings, just as many lithographs and sculptures. The sculptures, known as the Giacometti's “thin people”, by which he is globally known for, characterized by a rough, almost rusty surface, and their elongated torsos, heads, arms and legs, are reduced to the strictest representations, and thus virtually brought to the point of fragility. At first glance, the “thin people” bring out a powerful metaphor - it can be seen that the sculptor used the depiction of human existence without joy and meaning. The latter is the result of his friendship with the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and Giacometti's sculptures relationship with Sartre's existentialist philosophy topics. Although Giacometti claimed not to have taken account of the philosophical implications of his works, today more than ever they correspond to the modernity in which people struggle for existence - often for their lives. That is why the exhibition is designed in accordance to the recent experiences of Croatia and Europe, hence the title of the exhibition “Portraits of the present”, which will present sculptures “Women of Venice” - a cycle of nine monumental sculptures which brought fame to the artist in 1956 at the Biennale of Contemporary Art in Venice, and the sculpture “Walking man” - an emblematic masterpiece that still today holds the first place in the ranking of most expensive sculptures - it was sold at Sotheby's auction in London for  $104 million a few years ago!

The project is specifically designed for the Croatian public, and it confirms the importance of Zagreb as a European cultural center. Authorship of the exhibition and a selection of works is signed by Jasminka Poklečki Stošić.

On the 6th January, The Three Kings Day exhibition is open as usuall from 11 til 21. On weekends days, 7th and 8th January, exhibition is open from 10.