ISAKU YANAIHARA was no ordinary sitter for sculptor Alberto Giacometti. Not only was he an important model for the Swiss artist from 1956 to 1961, the Japanese existentialist philosopher was also a close confidant. It has been said that while the master sculptor conducted other affairs in what was a very Parisian or Bohemian arrangement, Yanaihara was to console Giacometti's wife, Annette, with Giacometti's full permission.
'Outside his family, Yanaihara was Giacometti's most important model,' says Mina Lee, the curator of an exhibition touring Japan that looks at the sculptor's art with particular reference to Yanaihara. 'In total, he posed for Giacometti on 230 days.'
The importance of this contribution can only be fully realised by considering Giacometti's working methods. When he sculpted, usually in clay or plaster, he worked like a dog chewing a bone, restlessly nibbling away for hours until he broke through to the artistic marrow, which meant arriving at the perfect form that would later be cast into bronze. This lengthy process often required models to stay still for hours on end.
Only someone with great patience or dedication to Giacometti's art could make this sacrifice. That's why Giacometti's chief male model was his brother and assistant Diego. It also explains one of the main reasons he married Annette in 1949 - she was one of the few people who could pose for lengthy periods for the fussy sculptor without fidgeting.
Their patience and dedication is commemorated in many of Giacometti's sculptures at the exhibition, including Buste de Diego (1954) and several small elongated nudes based on Annette. But although both these models were patient and dedicated, their modelling ability pales in comparison to Yanaihara's, who came to Paris in 1955. He met Giacometti through the leader of the existentialist movement, Jean Paul Sartre, a close friend of the sculptor.
'Whereas Annette and Diego wanted to take a break every two hours, Yanaihara never moved,' Lee says. 'It's even said that he had enough patience to pose for 10 hours at a time.'