Diego Giacometti

Gifted by the artist to Mrs Patricia de Beauvais

Gifted by the above to her sister in 1989

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2013

Private collection, Paris

For a comparable model :

Michel Butor, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1985, p.121

Françoise Francisi, Diego Giacometti, catalogue de l'oeuvre, Paris, 1986, p. 19

Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti, Paris 1986, p. 121

Diego Giacometti's Chat Maître d'hôtel is a work that perfectly embodies the artist's characteristic sense of humor. The feline, standing on its hind legs, was designed to sit inside a cage used to feed the birds at the Fondation Maeght in Saint Paul de Vence. The cat, a traditional bird predator, is transformed here into a benevolent guardian, presenting seeds in its bowl to satiate the birds, and becomes a surreal image.

Diego Giacometti, renowned for his love of animals, liked to breathe life and movement into his sculptures, and Le ChatMaître d'Hôtel is no exception. In an elegant, anthropomorphic pose, he offers his assistance with a carefully served meal. This play of contrasts between the cat's expected role and its presence in a space dedicated to birds creates a work that is both amusing and profound, where sculpture becomes a scene of peaceful coexistence.

This blend of utility and art, so dear to Diego Giacometti, makes our Chat Maître d'Hôtel

more than just a sculpture. The work becomes visual poetry, an ode to nature and the complex relationship between predator and prey.

© ADAGP, Paris, 2024