拍品 104
  • 104

ALBERTO GIACOMETTI | Console

估價
700,000 - 1,000,000 USD
Log in to view results
招標截止

描述

  • 阿爾伯托·賈柯梅蒂
  • Console
  • Gilt plaster over wood
  • 32 1/8  by 51 3/8  by 20 in.
  • 81.6 by 130.5 by 50.8 cm
  • Executed in 1939 for the Rockefeller 810 Fifth Avenue apartment.

來源

Commissioned directly from the artist by Jean-Michel Frank for Nelson Rockefeller in 1939

出版

Van Day Truex, "Jean-Michel-Frank Remembered," in Architectural Digest, September-October 1976, illustrated p. 74 
Malcolm N. Carter, "Nelson Rockefeller: 'I know exactly what I like'," in ARTnews, May 1978, illustrated p. 116 
Léopold Diego Sanchez, Jean-Michel Frank, Paris, 1980, illustrated pp. 45 & 210
Dorothy Canning Miller, ed., The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection: Masterpieces of Modern Art, New York, 1981, illustrated on the cover
Léopold Diego Sanchez, Jean-Michel Frank, Paris, 1997, illustrated p. 45 & 258
John Loring, "Nelson Rockefeller's Fifth Avenue Apartment: Recalling the Residence of the Notable Politician and Philanthropist," in Architectural Digest, April 2001, illustrated p. 106 
Anne Bony, Furniture & Interiors of the 1940s, Paris, 2002, illustrated n.p.
Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, Jean-Michel Frank, Paris, 2006, illustrated pp. 185 & 186
Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, Jean-Michel Frank: The Strange and Subtle Luxury of the Parisian Haute-Monde in the Art Deco Period, Paris, 2006, illustrated pp. 185 & 186
Jean-Michel Frank: Un Décorateur dans les Paris des Années 30
 (exhibition catalogue), Fondation Pierre Bergé Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, 2009, illustrated p. 67 

Condition

Overall very good condition. The authenticity of this console has been confirmed by the Comité Giacometti and it is recorded in the Alberto Giacometti database under number AGD4053. This console was used by the Rockefellers in their 810 Fifth Avenue apartment since it was originally commissioned from the artist in 1939. The console is in age appropriate condition, retaining its original gilding, which is bright and luminous. The water gilt surfaces with wear throughout, which is typical for the material, but has overall been beautifully preserved. The surface with scattered surface scratches and abrasions throughout, consistent with age and gentle use by the Rockefeller family. The plaster with some expected hairlines concentrated to the lower joints, the entablature of the table top and foot, and to the sculpted details of the legs, all of which appear stable. The plaster with occasional small losses largely concentrated to the outer edges of the console, most of which have been sensitively filled in and/or in-painted by a professional conservator. The plaster with some additional small areas which appear to have been filled in and/or in-painted at some point in the history of the piece. The vertical edges of the flat central leg have been touched up with gold paint at some point in the history of the piece, visible upon close inspection. Please contact the department for additional images of this lot.
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.

拍品資料及來源

Jean-Michel Frank’s aesthetic vision is characterized by the equal importance placed on form and texture.  Decoration, in his view, would always be secondary to the visceral experience of sculpture, of volumes arranged meticulously within a conceived space, and to the materials employed in their creation.  His interiors were impeccably executed in such luxurious materials as mica, shagreen, mother of pearl, and sumptuous Hermès leather.  Through his collaborations with Alberto Giacometti, plaster (in addition to bronze) also became an important material within Frank’s design repertoire.

The present console tables were specially commissioned for the Rockefeller interior.  Executed in plaster over a wood frame and finished with a luminous gilded surface, these tables fulfill Frank and Rockefeller’s combined vision for the 810 Fifth Avenue apartment interior.  The imposing scale and volume of the tables are tempered by their elegant, undulating form and by the delicacy of the plaster itself.  Winged arched legs rise up with graceful irregularity, allowing us to glimpse the artist’s hand and appreciate the incredible mastery of the medium.

Frank originally intended for the consoles to be presented in the dining room (per the inventory dated October 31, 1939), however the tables were also later positioned in both the foyer and the living room.  On July 7, 1939, Frank expressed in a letter to Rockefeller: "I do hope you will be pleased with the consoles as I really think that they correspond to your desire.  They permit to my taste anything you might want to put in the nich [sic] and on the table: Chinese art or modern or French or English XVIII Century."  Indeed, these unique masterworks exemplify Giacometti’s synthesis of antiquity and modernity and capture the luxury and opulence that Frank sought to bring to the Rockefeller interior.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Comité Giacometti and it is recorded in the Alberto Giacometti database under number AGD4053.