Alberto Giacometti

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York (acquired from the artist)

Estate of Pierre Matisse, New York

(possibly) New York, Pierre Matisse Gallery, Alberto Giacometti, 1961

Alberto Giacometti (exhibition catalogue), Galerie Maeght, Paris, 1961, the plaster listed

Alberto Giacometti (exhibition catalogue), Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, 2000, no. 42, another cast listed

The sculpture is in excellent condition. It displays a mottled, dark brown patina with lighter areas of the patina evident in many of the recesses. A small 1/8" hole in the bronze was observed in the proper right back shoulder that is inherent in the cast. Tiny spots of green oxidation were evident in the recesses of the textured surface. The sculpture is structurally sound and in excellent 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.
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.

Buste de Diego is one of Alberto Giacometti's impressive sculptural portraits of his younger brother Diego, who was the artist's primary model throughout the 1950s and 1960s.  These portraits of Diego indicate the intensely close relationship that the two men shared, and Alberto's familiarity with his subject undoubtedly aided in the artistic freedom with which he could approach his work.  The Giacometti brothers collaborated for much of their professional lives, and their reliance upon each other's creative support is well known.  As was the case for most of his sculptures, Alberto conceived the model in clay on the armature and Diego assisted with the bronze casting.  By the time he created this work, Alberto already had attracted significant critical recognition and had secured a contract with the prestigious Galerie Maeght in Paris.  Diego, on the other hand, had only just begun to design the bronze furniture that would make him famous in his own right.   Alberto always encouraged his brother to develop his artistic talent, but he also recognized that Diego was indispensable to the production of the innovative sculptures. The brothers' relationship was characterized by a mutual loyalty and respect that ultimately helped each man make the most of his talent.   Annette Arm accounted for this when discussing her husband Alberto in 1952, "He remains always his same anxious self, but fortunately, he has a brother who is more calm and understands him well" (quoted in James Lord, Giacometti, A Biography, New York, 1983, p. 329).

These likenesses of Diego marked a major shift in Giacometti's approach to his sculpture.  In contrast with the elongated figures of his post-war years, the figural sculptures from the late 1950s and 1960s were more naturalistic in scale and more emphatically focused on the nuances of the sitter's face.  Most of these works were heads and half-length busts, often conceived from memory.  This method of execution accounts for the fact that most of Giacometti's busts of Diego completed between 1951 and 1957 look more like Alberto than his brother.  But beginning in 1958 onwards, the heads take on more of the features of Diego, with his smooth, balding head and deeply recessed eyes.  The later sculptures are executed with the matière pétrie, or kneaded method, that heightened the expressiveness of the figure. As with the present work, Giacometti enhances the realism of these faces by precisely incising the figures with a knife.  But his restless hands, constantly pinching, smoothing and remodeling the surface, are his primary tools.

Buste de Diego was cast in a bronze edition of 6, and this cast is numbered 1 from that edition.  According to Mary Lisa Palmer, another cast from the edition is currently in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery.  Ms. Palmer also tells us that the present cast was probably the one that Pierre Matisse exhibited at his gallery on the occassion of the 1961 show of Giacometti's recent work.