拍品专文
When comparing Giacometti's male figure sculptures to his female subjects, one quickly recognizes that the men are almost always active--usually walking or pointing--while the women stand rigid and immobile, their arms held slightly at their sides and their feet firmly anchored. When asked about this, Giacometti simply replied that women were more distant to him. Indeed, this response reflects the fact that in his active role as a creator, the sculptor could more easily project himself in his male figures, while his female figures are the passive objects of the creative process, ultimately assuming the role of an object of devotion and desire, and taking on the more universal status of symbol and icon.
The exaggerated physical attributes of these figures demand that we view these as modern versions of tribal fetish figures or the fertility goddesses of antiquity. In fact, Giacometti drew heavily from non-classical sources, such as Cycladic, Sumerian, Egyptian, African and Oceanic art.
Giacometti's consistent adherence to the self-imposed limitations he placed on his depiction of the female figure does not narrow their expressiveness; quite the contrary, as an evolving series they are intense, visionary and remarkably varied in expression. This is especially true beginning in 1953, when Giacometti stopped working exclusively from memory and in plaster, and sculpted in clay directly from the model, usually his wife Annette. These later female figures are more naturalistic, and if they are less stylized and extreme than before, they are even more immediate, almost aggressive, in their physicality and tactile nature.
The exaggerated physical attributes of these figures demand that we view these as modern versions of tribal fetish figures or the fertility goddesses of antiquity. In fact, Giacometti drew heavily from non-classical sources, such as Cycladic, Sumerian, Egyptian, African and Oceanic art.
Giacometti's consistent adherence to the self-imposed limitations he placed on his depiction of the female figure does not narrow their expressiveness; quite the contrary, as an evolving series they are intense, visionary and remarkably varied in expression. This is especially true beginning in 1953, when Giacometti stopped working exclusively from memory and in plaster, and sculpted in clay directly from the model, usually his wife Annette. These later female figures are more naturalistic, and if they are less stylized and extreme than before, they are even more immediate, almost aggressive, in their physicality and tactile nature.