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PROPERTY FROM A WEST COAST COLLECTIONDiego Giacometti, born in 1902 in the Alpine valley of Stampa, Switzerland, first gained recognition as the principal assistant to his famous brother, painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti. He was born into an artistic family, so talented in fact, that Diego, despite his inherent artistic skills, withdrew from his creative inclinations and pursued other ventures in his young adulthood. He followed his brother to Paris, where the two embarked on a lifelong working partnership. They had a harmonious, symbiotic relationship – Diego was responsible for all of the technical executions of his brother’s work, including the elaborate bronze bases on which many works were grounded, and all of the bronze casting and application of patinas. His role as confidant, advisor, and technical assistant was vital for Alberto who found it difficult to focus on practical minutiae. In this role, Diego had the opportunity to meet various important collectors that would later become his clients. With the occupation of Paris by the Nazis in 1940, Alberto returned to Stampa for the duration of the war, however, Diego remained in Paris to look after their shared studio. While his skills as a craftsman were evident since childhood, it was at this time that Diego began to develop his artistic vision and to seriously consider himself as an artist in his own right. He began receiving commissions for decorative and commercial projects from Parisian business owners, artists and fashion designers. He focused on the creation of furniture and decorative arts, designing and fashioning lighting and furniture from sculpted plaster cast in bronze. His reputation as a craftsman/sculptor grew steadily and by the 1960s and 1970s he was being commissioned to design pieces for various renowned interiors, restaurants and museums throughout Europe.Giacometti's dressing tables, consoles, stools, lamps, and benches in myriad designs show his remarkable sense of proportion and his playful touch. His work is drawn from diverse contexts, such as vernacular iron furniture, Greco-Roman and Egyptian forms and motifs, mythical tales, folk art, the majesty of the hunt and the forest of his youth in Switzerland. His creations are decidedly alive. Transmuting the hardened material of bronze, Diego gives it a pulse. He gives movement to a straight line, builds a theater within the legs of a table and drama on the rails of a chair that ordinarily would go unseen, gathering dust.The ‘Hiboux et Grenouilles’ table (lot xx) features two owls peering out from the lower cross bars of the table, while four tentative frogs perch on the top, ready to jump at any moment to escape the talons of the predators poised below. In direct contrast to his brother’s focus on the human form, Diego remained dedicated to representing the various members of the animal kingdom throughout his life. When he did turn to humanity for the subject of his sculpture, it was in a decidedly classical fashion. The ‘Caryatid’ table (lot xx), designed originally for interior designer, Henri Samuels, has as its decorative elements four Caryatid figures standing sentinel at each corner.By the end of his life, Diego had created an enormous output of work that remains celebrated by museums and collectors alike. Though he finally came to accept his status as an artist, Diego was always the most comfortable considering himself as a craftsman. Until his very last projects, he insisted on executing every work on his own, without the aid of assistants.

DIEGO GIACOMETTI (1902-1985)

A 'HIBOUX ET GRENOUILLES' LOW TABLE, CIRCA 1970

Details

DIEGO GIACOMETTI (1902-1985)
A 'HIBOUX ET GRENOUILLES' LOW TABLE, CIRCA 1970
patinated bronze, glass
16 ¾ in. (42.5 cm.) high, 30 in. (76 cm.) wide, 23 ¾ in. (60.4 cm.) deep

Provenance

Justin Dart, Los Angeles (acquired from the artist), circa 1974;
Gifted from the above to a private collector, Los Angeles;
Thence by descent to present owner.

Literature

M. Butor, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1985, pp. 109 and 125 for other tables of this design;
F. Francisci, Diego Giacometti, Catalogue de l'Oeuvre, Paris, 1986, vol. I, pp. 104-105 for other tables of this design;
D. Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1986, pp. 84-85 for another table of this model.

Special notice

Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

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