Origins
In the years around 1955, the Pittsburgh industrialist G. David Thompson assembled the leading private collection of works by Alberto Giacometti. Most were purchased from the gallerist Pierre Matisse in New York, but Thompson also contacted Giacometti personally, had his portrait painted by the artist, and obtained some works from him directly, already with the intention of transferring the collection to a museum.
Having learned from the Basel art dealer Ernst Beyeler in 1960 that Thompson’s collection was for sale, René Wehrli, then Director of the Kunsthaus Zürich, devised a plan to keep the Giacometti works together in Switzerland. The asking price for the 61 sculptures, seven paintings and 21 drawings was 3 million Swiss francs.
Funding
The collectors Hans C. Bechtler and Walter A. Bechtler were keen to secure the works for Zurich; indeed, the Foundation owes its existence to their tireless engagement over many years.
Delays in obtaining funding prompted Ernst Beyeler, who was backed financially by the Basel collector Hans Grether, to acquire the collection and ensure that it stayed in Switzerland. Soon thereafter Hans C. Bechtler and a group of patrons were able to use interest-free loans from three major Swiss banks to secure the works for the Foundation. While a financing package from the federal, cantonal and city administrations was thwarted by a campaign in the press, a group of private individuals and companies stepped in to donate the requisite funds.
Inauguration
The Alberto Giacometti Foundation was formally established on 16 December 1965, shortly before the artist’s death, under the leadership of its first president Hans C. Bechtler.
Its first board included the key sponsors: Dr. Walter A. Bechtler, Ernst Göhner, Walter Haefner, Walter Meier, A. H. Meyer, Balthasar Reinhart, Karl G. Steiner, Gustav Zumsteg as well as Dr. René Wehrli and Prof. Adolf Max Vogt. Hans Grether and Bruno Giacometti joined the group somewhat later.
Alberto Giacometti himself donated three sculptures, nine late paintings, six drawings and 19 lithographs.
Later gifts
Since its establishment, the Foundation has seen its holdings enhanced by purchases and gifts, most notably from Bruno and Odette Giacometti, Hans C. and Elisabeth Bechtler-Staub, Dr. Anton and Anna Bucher-Bechtler, Franz Meyer (the Foundation’s second president), James Lord, Rudolf Werner, the estate of Margrit Bühler-Gredig, and the City and Canton of Zurich.
In 2006 and from Alberto’s estate, Bruno and Odette Giacometti donated 75 original plasters, a stone sculpture, two works in plasticine and 15 bronzes, including important late pieces.