Traces of a Friendship

Alberto Giacometti (1901-66) is inarguably one of the greatest sculptors of the twentieth century. Immensely gifted and prolific, Giacometti gave physical expression to his twin obsessions of the human form and the alienation of modern life. Because of his canonical position in the history of art and the reams of scholarship produced about him, Giacometti remains to many the elusive master artist, distant and remote on the Olympus of creative endeavor.

Ernst Scheidegger, a friend of the sculptor, knew a very different Giacometti. Scheidegger accompanied him to his studio, ate and drank with him, and relaxed with him in his family home. Traces of a Friendship is a document of this intimate life of Giacometti, consisting of photographs that Scheidegger made over the course of two decades. Scheidegger opens Giacometti’s studio and house in Maloja, Switzerland, to readers, allowing them rare access to the most closely held aspects of the artist’s life. Sketching in his studio, having a cup of coffee, his works in progress, his art in installation views, even his sleeping cats—Scheidegger captures the essence of the artist’s working life in images artful in their own right.

“Alberto Giacometti’s nature, work, and thoughts fascinated me and other friends tremendously,” wrote Scheidegger. “I was one of the lucky ones allowed to experience his life.” With Traces of a Friendship, Scheidegger expands that circle of the “lucky ones” to include all those equally fascinated by this modern master.