Alberto Giacometti - Design New York Wednesday, December 7, 2022 | Phillips

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  • The present lamp appears at first to be rather straightforward: the ornament—an “Étoile” or star—is simple and the patinated bronze is unassuming. Only with a certain eye does one appreciate the artful irregularity of the material and the proportions calculated to seem perfectly uncontrived. This austerity of ornament and form exemplifies the modern tastes that drove Giacometti’s production, namely through interior designer Jean-Michel Frank’s frequent commissions of his work.

     

    Image: 170673_fig1 Caption: Smoking room for Jorge Born’s villa in Buenos Aires, designed by Jean Michel-Frank, featuring the present model floor lamp, circa 1939.   Credit: Credit to come
    Smoking room for Jorge Born’s villa in Buenos Aires, designed by Jean Michel-Frank, featuring the present model floor lamp, circa 1939. Artwork © Succession Alberto Giacometti / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY 2022.

    Frank was at the forefront of defining luxury through refinement rather than extravagance. As the writer Roger Martin du Gard noted in 1922, “Simplicity was becoming fashionable, but in fact it cost the earth.” Frank’s interiors were radical for their simultaneous opulence and asceticism. Alberto Giacometti's slender and elegant design perfectly evoke this modern sensibility. As Samuel Beckett, a friend and artistic collaborator of Giacometti once said, “All true grace is in the economical.” 

    • Provenance

      L'Arc en Seine/Rainbow Fine Art, New York
      Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2006

    • Literature

      Michel Butor, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1985, p. 142
      Françoise Francisci, Diego Giacometti: Catalogue de l’oeuvre, Vol. 1, Paris, 1986, p. 31
      François Baudot, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1998, p. 42
      Christian Boutonnet and Rafael Ortiz, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 2003, p. 38
      Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti: sculpteur de meubles, Paris, 2018, p. 30

    • Catalogue Essay

      The present lot is registered by the Fondation Alberto and Annette Giacometti in the online Alberto Giacometti Database (AGD) under the number AGD 4452.

Property from the Collection of David Netto

23

"Étoile" floor lamp

circa 1936
Patinated bronze, fabric shade.
Height of cast: 57 1/4 in. (145.4 cm)
One leg incised A. Giacometti and impressed 049. Together with a certificate of authenticity from the Comité Giacometti.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$150,000 - 250,000 

Sold for $289,800

Contact Specialist

Benjamin Green
Associate Specialist

Associate Head of Sale

bgreen@phillips.com
+1 917 207 9090

 

Design

New York Auction 7 December 2022