Diego Giacometti

Georges Coulon, Paris (acquired from the artist)
Odette Coulon, Paris (by descent from the above)
Elisabeth Préault, Paris (acquired from the above in 1992)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Animals first appeared in Diego Giacometti's œuvre around 1935. At this time the artist, who was living in Stampa in Italy, developed interest in the animal world, finding inspiration in dogs and cats as well as in wilder animals of the Valle Bregaglia.

In an interview with Patricia de Beauvais, the artist explained the origin of the Promenade des amis when he stated,  "This work was created for a client who raised money for the protection of the animals.  So I conceived La Promenade des amis: a horse with three little dogs, one of them peeing on a tree and another one smelling him.  Another client asked me to remove the dogs.  It bothered her, but I answered,  'all dogs are the same'" (translated from the original French quotation in Christian Boutonnet and Rafael Ortiz, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 2003, p. 95).