Diego Giacometti

DeLorenzo Gallery, New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1986

Michel Butor, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1985, pp. 35, 69 (for period photographs of the model in the artist's studio) and 125

Françoise Francisci, Diego Giacometti, Catalogue de l'oeuvre, Paris, 1986, p. 67

Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti, New York, 1986, p. 152

Diego Giacometti, Möbel und Objekte aus Bronze, exh. cat., Musée Bellerive, Zurich, 1988, p. 18

Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti, New York, 2005, p. 152

Jacqueline von Sprecher, Diego Giacometti, tritt aus dem Schatten, Zurich, 2007, p. 136

Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti: Sculpteur de Meubles, Paris, 2018, p. 155

Diego, The Other Giacometti, exh. cat., Fondazione Luigi Rovati, Milan, 2023, p. 111

This work has been authenticated in accordance with the process established by the Diego Giacometti Estate.

Among Diego Giacometti’s most celebrated designs, the “Arbre au Hibou” guéridon captures the full breadth of his sculptural imagination, uniting a fascination with the natural world and his command of bronze. Conceived circa 1980, the model belongs to the closing decade of his career, when his vocabulary had reached a point of remarkable fluency and refinement.

The guéridon takes the form of a stylized tree, rising from three slender legs cast as exposed roots. These gather into a textured trunk before extending upward and branching outward to support a glass top. The composition unfolds with quiet animation: deliberately irregular lines avoid symmetry in favor of an organic rhythm that gives the work lift and movement.

Perched within the structure is the owl, or hibou, on a branch just above the base. Small in scale yet unmistakable, it provides a moment of stillness within the upward progression. Its compact form and forward gaze create a focus point that anchors the design while remaining fully integrated into the balance of the piece.

At the heart of the guéridon’s appeal is Giacometti’s belief that animals are not incidental additions. Drawn from observation and long familiarity, they appear with a sense of inevitability, as if they belong to the forms they inhabit. The owl is likewise worked into the vertical logic of the tree, mediating between grounded roots and the airy canopy above.

The bronze surfaces are finished with a nuanced range of patinas, from deep greens to warmer russet tones that subtly distinguish the hibou. These variations animate the object as it catches the light along textured contours, revealing the hand of the artist. Held in equilibrium with the glass, the overall composition reads not only as furniture, but as a self-contained miniature environment—refined, inventive, and enduring.