GIACOMETTI Alberto (1901 - 1966) Lot n° 46

L.A.S. "Alberto Giacometti", Stampa 14 March 1959, to G. David THOMPSON; 4 pages in-8. Interesting letter to his American collector friend. [G. David THOMPSON (1898 - 1965), a Pittsburgh banker and industrialist, was also a passionate collector; he owned about a hundred works by Giacometti, and was planning to create a museum in Pittsburgh. While Giacometti sold his works only through his gallery owners, he sold some of them directly to G. David Thompson. David Thompson]. He sought to find out "what the Famille sculpture is about [...] I saw the Rubin copy at Foinet. This copy was cast at the same time as yours by Pierre LOEB but I did not know that there were two, they are neither numbered nor signed. It is therefore in good faith that I told you that your copy was unique. I numbered Rubin's copy 2/2, so yours is 1/2. I am very sorry about this but it is not my fault in any way and if you don't want to keep your copy I will buy it back from you whenever you want. You are reproaching me for the way I have behaved towards you. The big abstract sculpture has been at the foundry for months, I insisted that he do it quickly but now everything is going slowly and not always as I want despite everything I say and I can't go and do the casting myself. I didn't promise you the sculpture for a fixed date, I told you that I would send it as soon as it was finished and I didn't take the money, it is still at Foinet's". He does not deserve the reproaches that Thompson addresses to him: "You are the only person to whom I sold and gave paintings and sculptures, in 1958 and in 1957 outside of my dealers, and this out of friendship for you and your collection which is a great joy for me and for which I am very grateful. He was surprised by the rumor that his correspondent was trying to sell or had already sold his collection, and did not know what to believe...