Alberto Giacometti

Curt Valentin Gallery, New York
Estate of Mrs Helene S. Thompson, Pittsburgh (sale: Sotheby's, New York, 18th May 1983, lot 90)
Marcia S. Weisman Foundation, USA (purchased at the above sale. Sale: Sotheby's, New York, 13th November 1997, lot 419)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Houston, The Menil Collection, Contemporary Art from the Marcia Simon Weisman Collection, 1992-93

Jacques Dupin, Alberto Giacometti, Paris, 1962, illustration of another cast p. 265 (titled Femme)
Herbert & Mercedes Matter, Alberto Giacometti, New York, 1987, illustration of another cast pp. 102-103

Varied brown-green patina. This work is in good condition.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE 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, and would soon become his wife and, besides 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 to 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 œuvre. 

 

Giacometti paid significant attention to the modelling of his works, and Femme nue 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 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 present works has a mythic dimension that is eternal.