Diego Giacometti - Design New York Wednesday, June 9, 2021 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Renate and Sidney Shapiro, New York, acquired as a gift directly from the artist
    Christie's, New York, "Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper and Day Sale," May 5, 2011, lot 415
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Literature

    Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1986, p. 124
    Françoise Francisi, Diego Giacometti: Catalogue de l’oeuvre, Volume I, Paris, 1986, p. 20
    François Baudot, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1998, p. 25
    Christian Boutonnet and Rafael Ortiz, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 2003, p. 95

  • 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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Property of a Distinguished Private Collector

38

"L'Autruche"

designed circa 1977, cast before 1985
Patinated bronze.
18 3/4 x 6 x 11 1/2 in. (47.6 x 15.2 x 29.2 cm)
Underside impressed DIEGO and with DG monogram.

Estimate
$70,000 - 90,000 

Sold for $428,400

Contact Specialist

DesignNewYork@phillips.com
212-940-1268

Design

New York Auction 9 June 2021