Beauvoir, Sartre and Giacometti: an exhibition that blurs boundaries
What if art, philosophy and literature were all part of the same vertigo? That’s the challenge of the “Vertiges de l’absolu” exhibition, on show at the Institut Giacometti from June 19 to October 12, 2025. This cross-disciplinary event pays tribute to Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre and Alberto Giacometti.
An intellectual trio reunited
This original exhibition retraces thefriendship and quest for the absolute shared by these three figures. We discover a reconstruction of their exchanges in Paris in the 1940s, but also in Geneva in 1946, where their collaboration on the magazine Labyrinthe marked a clear transition: from the shadow of surrealism to a new plastic and philosophical radicalism.
Through sculptures, essays, archives and personal objects, the tour brings to life a generation at odds with itself, resolutely turned towards a committed modernity.
Iconic works at the heart of the story
Among the works on display are L’Objet invisible (1934), La Main (1947), and the plaster cast Simone de Beauvoir (1946), sculpted by Giacometti himself. Each piece resonates with the writings of Beauvoir and Sartre, displayed in a setting that recreates the places they frequented: the studio, the bedroom at 11bis rue Victor-Schoelcher, and Parisian cafés.
The scenography, by Éric Morin, invites us on a mental journey between art and thought, supported by the sensitive photographs of artist Agnès Geoffray.
Giacometti, between doubt and genius
Beyond the exhibition, Giacometti’s work itself is worth stopping to consider: his lanky figures, born after the war, seem to bear the wounds and silences of an era. A sculptor, painter and writer in one, he is one of the few artists to have captured existential anguish in the material itself.
A dense, vertiginous and sensitive exhibition, for philosophy buffs and modern art enthusiasts alike. A must-see at the Institut Giacometti, 5 rue Victor-Schoelcher, Paris 14th.
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