Alberto Giacometti

Galerie de L'Elysée (Alex Maguy), Paris

Jonathan Rosen (sold: Sotheby's Parke Bernet, New York, May 21, 1975, lot 150)

Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Washington, D.C. (acquired at the above sale)

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (a bequest from the above on August 31, 1981 and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 7, 1991, lot 36)

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Jacques Dupin, Alberto Giacometti, Paris, 1962, illustration of another cast p. 265

Herbert & Mercedes Matter, Alberto Giacometti, New York, 1987, illustration of another cast pp. 96 & 102-03 (titled Woman)

Alberto Giacometti, Francis Bacon: Isabel and Other Intimate Strangers (exhibition catalogue), Gagosian Gallery, New York, 2008, illustration in color of another cast pp. 64-65 

Excellent condition. The bronze displays a dark brown patina that is in excellent condition. There are no scratches or abrasions on the surface. The sculpture appears structurally sound.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The subject of the present sculpture is Annette, a young woman whom Giacometti met in Geneva shortly after moving to Switzerland in 1942. Four years later Annette moved to Paris with Giacometti.  She would soon become his wife and aside from his brother Diego, his principal model for the rest of the artist's life. Annette's appearance in Giacometti's sculpture of the mid-1950s marked a decisive shift in his art. In comparison with the spindly, anonymous female figures of the previous decade, the women of the 1950s are marked by a more expressive style. Although several strong females provided inspiration for Giacometti's work, it was Annette who had the most profound and long-lasting effect on his work. 

 

Giacometti paid great attention to the modelling of his works, and Femme exhibits a vibrancy and vitality unique to his sculpture. Its rough treatment of the bronze, its recesses and moulding create a dynamic surface and invite a play of light and shadow in such a way that they become a part of the work itself. In this, his roughly textured figures are reminiscent of artefacts of ancient civilisations, such as Egyptian statues, African tribal reliquary figures or Cycladic fertility goddesses. The artist himself proclaimed: "The works of the past that I find the most true to reality are those that are considered the least, the furthest from it" (quoted in Herbert & Mercedes Matter, op. cit., p. 211). With her voluptuous features and pronounced forms, the Femme has a mythic dimension that is eternal.