Alberto Giacometti

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York

Private Collection, Switzerland

Thomas Gibson Fine Art Ltd, London

Acquired from the above in 1974

Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries, Alberto Giacometti, 1969-70, no. 112, illustrated in the catalogue

Reinhold Hohl, Alberto Giacometti, New York, 1971, illustration of another cast p. 264

Alberto Giacometti: A Retrospective Exhibition (exhibition catalogue), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1974, no. 107, illustration of another cast p. 122

Thomas Gibson Fine Art Ltd, Thirteen Bronzes: Alberto Giacometti (exhibition catalogue), London, 1977, no. 10, illustration of another cast p. 41

Alberto Giacometti: Sculptures, peintures, dessins (exhibition catalogue), Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, 1991, no. 283, illustration of another cast p. 385

Yves Bonnefoy, Alberto Giacometti: A Biography of his Work, Paris, 1991, nos. 516 and 518, illustration of another cast pp. 511-512

Christine Klemm, ed., Alberto Giacometti (exhibition catalogue), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001, no. 180, illustration of another cast p. 241

Françoise Cohen, Contre/Images, Arles, 2004, illustration of another cast p. 74

Véronique Wiesinger, Alberto Giacometti, Stockholm, 2006, no. 24, illustration of another cast p. 67

Very good condition. Dark brown patina with green tones in the recesses. The patina is slightly rubbed on the high points and on the smooth part of the figure's back. A tiny pinhole, inherent to the casting process, was noted on the back of the head on the PR side. No significant scratches or abrasions were observed on the surface, and the sculpture appears structurally sound.
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.

Among Giacometti's most gripping sculptures are the busts he created in the last few years of his life, such as Buste de Annette VIII.  He began working closer to his models, probing their inner consciousness and stripping down the exterior form to the raw essentials.  As he adds substance to the figure of Annette in this sculpture, he heightens her expressiveness by kneading into the recesses of her eyes, the furrows of her brow, and the curls of her hair.

Alberto Giacometti met Annette Arm in the fall of 1943 when she was twenty years old, less than half his age.  In his biography of the artist, James Lord described how Annette had flipped up her fur collar so Giacometti's first impression was of her deep brown eyes: "Alberto was struck at once by the quality of the gaze.  As the evening passed, he became intrigued by the person" (James Lord, Giacometti: A Biography, New York, 1985, p. 230).  Alberto and Annette married in 1949, and she remained one of his most intriguing models for the rest of his life.

In 1962, Giacometti began the series of bronze busts of his wife from which this sculpture derives.  He created the first eight that year, adding the ninth iteration in 1964 and the tenth in 1965.  In his seminal monograph on Giacometti, French writer Yves Bonnefoy described Annette VIII as the masterpiece of the series.  The greatness of the sculpture, he wrote, "is that kind of flame in the depth of the eyes somehow captured in bronze, testifying to the fact of life in those glances which are doomed to become decaying matter.  It seems as though Giacometti's sole concern was to preserve that furtive presence from the flames of death" (Yves Bonnefoy, op. cit., p. 51).

During an interview in 1966, Giacometti confirmed that the eyes fascinated him most in the human head.  He explained, "When you look at a face you always look at the eyes.... Now the strange thing is, when you represent the eye precisely, you risk destroying exactly what you are after, namely the gaze.... In none of my sculptures since the war have I represented the eye precisely.  I indicate the position of the eye.  And I very often use a vertical line in place of the pupil.  It's the curve of the eyeball one sees.  And it gives the impression of the gaze.... When I get the curve of the eyeball right, then I've got the socket; when I get the socket, I've got the nostrils, the point of the nose, the mouth...and all of this together might just produce the gaze, without one's having to concentrate on the eye itself" (quoted in Kristine Stiles & Peter Selz, Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings, Los Angeles, 1995, p. 189).

In Buste de Annette VIII, Giacometti achieved that perfect balance when all of the facial features work in harmony to animate the figure.  Even the crudely modeled shoulders contribute to the elegant lines leading up through the slender neck and slightly lifted chin, ultimately reaching the eyes, which stare out through a penetrating gaze.  This gaze gives the sculpture the presence that captivates viewers in much the same way that Giacometti had been captivated by Annette two decades earlier.