In preparation for exhibition of his work at the
Venice Biennale and Kunsthalle in Bern, both scheduled
to open in June 1956, he [Alberto Giacometti] modeled
a group of fifteen standing female figures on a scale
about three-quarters life-size (41¼ to 52¾ inches
high). Ten of the plaster figures were displayed in
Venice (in groups of four and six) as "works in
progress," and five plasters (entitled Figures I-V)
were shown in Bern. The nine sculptures that survived
became known as Woman of Venice regardless of where
they had been shown.

According the David Sylvester, the figures were created
as different states of the same figure, modeled from
the same clay on a single armature. Whenever the
artist liked a version, Diego made a plaster cast of
it. Alberto would then continue to rework the clay into
a different figure, which Diego would also cast into
plaster.

The differences among these figures in height,
anatomical proportions, and bases suggest that the
numbering might not accurately indicate the sequence in
which they were originally modeled.

Figure VI is the tallest in the group; its narrow verticality culminates in a knife-like face with a
sharp-edged front profile, balanced by the curved
hairdo. The slightly open mouth adds a note of
expectation. (exh. cat., V.G. Fletcher, Alberto
Giacometti, Washington, D.C., Hirshhorn Museum, 1988,
pp. 200-201)