The director of the Giacometti Foundation in Paris has revealed details about the new Giacometti Institute, scheduled to open June 20 in the historic district of Montparnasse, where the sculptor lived and worked.

The institute will occupy about 1,150 square feet inside the former studio of artist and interior designer Paul Follot, in a listed heritage building that has been renovated by architect Pascal Grasso. Catherine Grenier, who has been head of the Giacometti Foundation since 2014, will serve as director of the institute, which will be dedicated to exhibitions and the study of Giacometti’s work.

A highlight of the new institute is a permanent reconstruction of Giacometti’s studio, which was carefully conserved by the artist’s widow, Annette Giacometti. It will showcase two of the three original walls, never-before-displayed sculptures in plaster and clay, as well as original furniture and paintings.

Giacometti’s studio. Photo: Sabine Weiss Collection, Fondation Giacometti, Paris, © Succession Giacometti (Fondation Giacometti + ADAGP) Paris 2018.

Along with a robust schedule of temporary exhibitions centered on Giacometti’s own work and his relationships with other artists, the institute, which will be open to the public by appointment, will feature a graphic art cabinet to display nearly 5,000 drawings, lithographs, and notebooks.

Walls of Giacometti’s studio, 1966. Collection Fondation Giacometti, Paris.
© Succession Giacometti (Fondation Giacometti + ADAGP) Paris 2018.

The institute comes at a time of renewed interest in Giacometti’s work around the world. The actor and director Stanley Tucci is set to debut the Giacometti biopic The Final Portrait, starring Geoffrey Rush and Armie Hammer, in the US next month.

The foundation has co-organized a number of major Giacometti exhibitions for this year including at: the Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec (through May 13); the Beyeler Foundation (Bacon-Giacometti) in Basel (April 29–September 2); the Guggenheim Museum in New York (June 8 –September 12); the Musée Maillol in Paris (September 14–January 20, 2019); and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (October 19 –February 24, 2019).