The Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Pera Museum has announced the first major exhibition of sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti in Turkey. The exhbition will take a retrospective approach. Organized in collaboration with the Giacometti Foundation, Paris, this exhibition explores Giacometti's prolific working life, most of which the artist spent in his studio in Montparnasse, via the works of his early period as well his late works, including one unfinished piece. Curated by the Giacometti Foundation's Director Catherine Grenier, the exhibition offers a chronological and thematic itinerary covering the two definitive periods of Alberto Giacometti's life - before and after World War II, and touches upon his friendships with the leading artists and intellectuals of this period in Paris. Devoted to Giacometti's early works, the first part of the exhibition demonstrates the influence on Giacometti's output during these years of Giovanni Giacometti, the father of the artist and a Swiss Post-Impressionist painter himself, and his role in his son's development. The exhibition also illustrates Alberto Giacometti's relations with Post-Cubist artists and the Surrealist movement between 1922 and 1935, one of the important sculpture series he created during his first years in Paris, and the critical role he played in the art scene of the period. The second part of the exhibition brings together the artist's key works from his mature period, most of which were created between 1950 and 1960, a time when the artist had altered his perception of the world and depicted reality not as it was, but as he saw it. This was also the period when he focused on the human figure. As with his paintings, Giacometti worked solidly on his sculptures, relying both on nature and his memory, trying to capture universal facial expressions. In the 60s, Giacometti paid homage to Paris, the city where he lived, by drawing its streets, cafés, and more private places like his studio and the apartment of his wife, Annette. These drawings would make up his last book, Paris sans fin (Paris Without End). A wide selection of lithographs from these drawings accompanies the exhibition, along with archival material (letters, sketches, publications) and a selection of photographs. The exhibition, which includes 123 artworks (35 sculptures, 19 paintings, 37 drawings, 28 photographs and four archival documents), can be visited until April 26th.About Giacometti Foundation Giacometti Foundation is a French public interest institution, created by government decree in December 2003. The foundation focuses on promoting, disseminating, preserving and protecting the work of Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966). It is headquartered in Paris and its current president is Olivier Le Grand (since 2011). Former president Jacques Vistel is now Honorary President. The Foundation is directed by Catherine Grenier, Chief Curator of the French Ministry of Culture. The Foundation, having received a bequest from Alberto Giacometti's widow Annette Giacometti (1923-1993), holds the world's largest Alberto Giacometti collection (circa 5,000 works, regularly enriched by new acquisitions). It also holds a rich collection of archives and documentation that illuminates Giacometti's art, and supports the work of restoration experts working under its supervision: the artist's correspondence, manuscripts for published texts, notes and sketchbooks, copper plates, as well as a large part of his library; magazines, books, exhibition catalogs and newspapers, some of which contain his annotations or drawings. About Pera Museum The Pera Museum in Istanbul was inaugurated in 2005. Funded by the Suna and Ínan Kıraç Foundation, this private museum is in the historic Tepebaşı quarter of the city, and the building, originally the famous Bristol Hotel, has been transformed into an impressive suite of galleries across several floors, housing both the Foundation's permanent collection and hosting a program of national and international loan exhibitions. This program of activity and its successful collaboration with many international art institutions has ensured that the Pera Museum has become a leading cultural center in Istanbul.