Diego Giacometti - Design London Monday, April 28, 2014 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Lee Kolker, acquired directly from the artist, circa 1969
    Thence by descent to Mr. and Mrs. Blum, New York, 1980
    DeLorenzo Gallery, 1991
    Private collection, Colorado, 1991
    Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2009

  • Literature

    Michel Butor, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1985, pp. 116, 131, 139
    Françoise Francisci, Diego Giacometti: Catalogue de l’œuvre, Volume I, Paris, 1986, p. 70
    Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1986, pp. 83, 177, 192
    François Baudot, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1998, p. 75
    Christian Boutonnet and Rafael Ortiz, Diego Giacometti, exh. cat., Galerie l'Arc en Seine, Paris, 2003, pp. 10, 54

  • Catalogue Essay

    In 1935 Diego Giacometti took a holiday in Stampa, the Swiss town in which he grew up. The trip marked one of the first periods in which he was separated from Alberto Giacometti, and perhaps in connection with having removed himself from the shadow of his brother’s career, he began his first animal sculptures. It was shortly after this trip that the younger Giacometti also started making furniture, after patrons admired the stands that he was crafting for his brother’s sculptures. The present chair form is one of his earliest functional works. The lion’s head finials were a later adaptation.

    Lee Kolker was a close friend of Diego Giacometti who had over eighty of his works in his personal collection. He gave the present lot as a gift to his daughter in 1979.

  • Artist Biography

    Diego Giacometti

    Swiss • 1902 - 1985

    In 1935 Diego Giacometti took a holiday in Stampa, the Swiss town in which he grew up. The trip marked one of the first periods in which he was separated from his brother Alberto Giacometti, and perhaps in connection with having removed himself from the shadow of his brother's career, he began his first animal sculptures. It was shortly after this trip that the younger Giacometti also started making furniture, after patrons admired the stands he was crafting for his brother's sculptures. Diego modeled his maquettes in plaster (as opposed to clay or wax, which was the more common choice for sculptors) and cast his furniture in bronze, a departure from most metal furniture at the time, which was cast in iron. Illustrious clients included the Maeght and Noailles families as well as the decorator Jean-Michel Frank, who commissioned Alberto (assisted by Diego) to create plaster lighting and fireplace accessories.

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6

'Têtes de lionnes' armchair, second version

circa 1969
Patinated bronze, wrought iron, leather.
81.3 x 55.9 x 57.2 cm (32 x 22 x 22 1/2 in.)

Estimate
£100,000 - 150,000 Ω

Sold for £146,500

Contact Specialist
Ben Williams
Senior Specialist, Head of Sale
bwilliams@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4027

Design

London Auction 29 April 2014 2pm