Grande tête mince is Alberto Giacometti’s masterpiece. Here we find the definitive expression of his quest for a new sculptural language, one that captures the artist at his most evocative and haunting. Encountering this uniquely painted bust of the artist’s brother Diego, whether head-on or from the side, leads to necessary surprise and discovery on the part of the viewer. There is a constant, dislocating sensation of wanting to go closer to see each gouge in the surface and simultaneously go further away to understand the full effect of the overall expression. The nuance of the richly hand-painted surface found on this sculpture further distinguishes it from all other casts of this form. Giacometti animates this “knife-blade” head not only through shape and texture but also with his impactful palette of blacks, browns and greys, all richly applied and remarkably well preserved, which serve to bring the form uniquely to life. Grand tête mince stands alongside Giacometti’s L’Homme qui marche, Le Nez, L’Homme au doigt and Le Chien as a masterpiece of the artist’s oeuvre and as one of the defining sculptures of the twentieth century.

The auction will take place in Sotheby’s Modern Evening Sale on 13 May 2025 in New York.