Fondation Giacometti

A drawing as well as photographs of Alberto Giacometti’s studio enable us to date this chandelier from before 1952. Made out of bronze, of an average size (44.5 centimetres diameter), it is formed by a cone-shaped lampshade suspended on two rings capped with four cones fitted in a cubic structure. The central cone-shaped lampshade is suspended to the four cones by chains; a small cone irregularly grooved suspends the composition from the ceiling. The irregularities in the treatment of the material are characteristic of Alberto Giacometti’s works and gives a vibrant aspect to the bronze. The old gold or bronze colour comes from the alloy itself. This object comes from the collection of Alice Tériade, widow of Tériade (Estratios Elefteriades, called Tériade, 1897-1983), collector, publisher and friend of Alberto Giacometti. Giacometti designed chandeliers and furniture for Tériade’s Parisian apartment and for his villa in Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat. Three of these chandeliers follow the same structural pattern, in plaster or bronze: a central lampshade surrounded by two rings capped with cones more or less small, if not figurines. This chandelier is a variation of a plaster model that also belonged to Tériade, on which one sees again the small cones fitted in cubic structures. Alberto Giacometti had already created chandeliers for the interior designer Jean-Michel Frank in the Thirties. After the war, he continued creating decorative arts objects (unique pieces, or produced in limited numbers) among which chandeliers; they were mainly commissioned by his close friends.

No inscription

TERIADE
Alice TERIADE
Sale Artcurial. Briest. Le Fur. Poulain. F. Tajan Paris (France), October 20th, 2007, lot n ° 48

Collection Alice Tériade, Paris : Artcurial. Briest. Le Fur. Poulain. F. Tajan, 2007, lot no. 48, p. 44-45