Fondation Giacometti

The shape of this work is an extension of the cubist-influenced sculptures in the shape of plates with primitive and totemic influences that Giacometti was making in the years 1927-1928. While in the previous pieces the signs in relief made on the plates were very marked, here the relief is very subtle, made of light hollows, fine incisions and delicate curves. It is the light that animates the work, creating an ambiguity between the solid and the hollow following trails that sculptors were exploring at the time. The light sets in motion the figure of this “woman”, freer from influence in relation to another very similar sculpture made in 1928-1929. Commenting on a similar piece in “Cahiers d’art” in 1929, Christian Zervos contrasted it to the Cycladic plates, regretting: “if one were to suppress any part of Giacometti’s exhibited work, one would notice that that work would end up disorganised, by the very fact that its unity rests more on appearance than on qualities intrinsic to the art of sculpture.” This critical comment is on the contrary, a perfect summing up of Giacometti’s effort in condensing the figure and space that surround it in an indissoluble way. The first exhibition of this work, initially in plaster, is not known with any certainty. It was cast in bronze after the artist’s death. A marble was made before 1934, and the sculpture was cast in bronze after the artist’s death.

Signature and cast number gravés à l'arrière du socle à droite "Alberto Giacometti / 0/6"

Annette GIACOMETTI
Succession Annette Giacometti
Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti

2005 Alberto Giacometti au donjon de Vez, Vez (France), Donjon de Vez, from June 18th to October 2nd 2005
2006 Alberto Giacometti - Bror Hjorth, Stockholm (Sweden), Liljevalchs Konsthall, from September 23rd 2006 to January 7th 2007, no. 9
2015 Alberto Giacometti au Fonds Hélène et Edouard Leclerc, Landerneau (France), Fonds Hélène & Edouard Leclerc, from June 14th to October 25th 2015
2016 Alberto Giacometti retrospective at Yuz Museum, Shanghai (China), The Shanghai Yuz Museum, from March 22nd to July 31st 2016
2018 Transmission/Transgression.. Maîtres et élèves dans l'atelier de Bourdelle, Paris (France), Musée Bourdelle, from October 3rd 2018 to February 3rd 2019
2019 Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler Flora, Paris, Institut Giacometti, from April 5th to June 9th 2019
2019 Histoire de corps, Paris, Institut Giacometti, from June 22nd to November 6th 2019
2021 Picasso-Giacometti Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar (Netherlands), Museum Voorlinden, from October 16th 2021 to February 13th 2022

Véronique WIESINGER (under the direction of), Alberto Giacometti au Donjon de Vez, Oeuvres de la Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Vez : Donjon de Vez, 2005, p. 16, ill. p. 17
Véronique WIESINGER, Bo NILSSON, Alberto Giacometti. Bror Hjorth, Stockholm : Liljevalchs Konsthall, 2006, p. 88, ill. p. 31
Véronique WIESINGER, Bo NILSSON, Alberto Giacometti. Partial reprint with corrections, Stockholm : Liljevalchs Konsthall, 2006, cat. no. 9, p. 89, ill. p. 32