Alberto GiacomettiAlberto Giacometti Figura1964
1964
About the Item
- Creator:Alberto Giacometti (1901 - 1966, Swiss)
- Creation Year:1964
- Dimensions:Height: 13 in (33.02 cm)Width: 9 in (22.86 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Washington, DC
- Reference Number:
Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti was a painter, printmaker and furniture designer but he is best known as one of the 20th century’s most important sculptors. He is revered for the elongated, slender human figures he created in the years following World War II that reflected existentialism and the trauma associated with the conflict.
Giacometti was born in Borgonovo, Switzerland, in 1901 to a creative family. His father Giovanni was a Post-Impressionist painter, his godfather Cuno Amiet was a Fauvist painter, his brother Bruno was an architect, and his other brother Diego was an artist and furniture designer who also served as Giacometti’s model. (The sculptor worked chiefly with models plucked from his personal life.)
Beginning in 1922, Giacometti studied at the Académie de la Grande-Chaumière in Paris and was influenced by the Cubist work of Alexander Archipenko, Raymond Duchamp-Villon and the post-Cubist sculptures of Jacques Lipchitz and Henri Laurens.
During the 1930s, Giacometti designed furniture such as lamps, vases and wall décor to earn a living, often collaborating with interior designer Jean-Michel Frank, whose interiors tastefully mixed extravagance with sophisticated simplicity. However, Giacometti’s passion lay in creating sculptures.
Alberto and his brother Diego left Paris in 1940 to escape the Nazi invasion and spent time in the South of France before fleeing to Geneva, remaining there until 1946. In 1947, Giacometti began work on his most famous sculptures — very tall and thin figurines that came to be associated with frailty and loneliness.
Giacometti catapulted to fame in the United States following two exhibitions of his sculptures in 1948 and 1950 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York City — Jean-Paul Sartre authored the catalogue essay for the latter. In 1961, Giacometti’s friend, Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, asked him to design the set for a re-staging of his play “Waiting for Godot.” His response took on the form of a single plaster tree.
In 1962, Giacometti won the grand prize for sculpture at the Venice Biennale, and for much of the rest of his career, he created modern paintings, drawings and sculptures of plaster, clay and bronze in his small Paris studio. He died in 1966.
Giacometti’s works continue to enthrall collectors. In 2010, his life-size bronze sculpture L'Homme qui marche (“the man who walks”), which now adorns the 100 Swiss Franc banknote, became one of the most expensive sculptures to be sold at auction.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage Alberto Giacometti wall decorations, prints and sculptures.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Washington, DC
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Reflections on HairBy Roy LichtensteinLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Roy Lichtenstein Title: Reflections on Hair Portfolio: Reflections Medium: Lithograph, screenprint, relief and metalized PVC collage with embossing on mold-made Somerset pape...Category
1990s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsPVC, Lithograph, Screen
- Roy Lichtenstein Girl from 1¢ LifeBy Roy LichtensteinLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Roy Lichtenstein Title: Girl Portfolio: 1¢ Life Medium: Lithograph on white wove paper Date: 1963 Edition: 2000 Frame Size: 20 3/4" x 18 5/8" Sheet Size: 16 1/4" x 11 1/2" Im...Category
1960s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Cyclopean Make-UpBy Salvador DalíLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Salvador Dali Title: Cyclopean Make-Up Portfolio: Imaginations and Objects of the Future Medium: Lithograph with collage Year: 1975 Edition: I-41/250 Sheet Size: 30 1/4" x 22...Category
1970s Surrealist Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Virgo, from Signs of the ZodiacBy Salvador DalíLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Salvador Dali Title: Virgo Portfolio: Signs of the Zodiac Medium: Lithograph Year: 1967 Edition: 97/250 Frame Size: 32 5/8" x 25 1/8" Sheet Size: 29 1/2" x 22" Signature: Han...Category
1960s Surrealist Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Anya with Hands Together, from 26 PortraitsBy Julian OpieLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Julian Opie Title: Anya with Hands Together Portfolio: 26 Portraits Medium: Lithograph Date: 2006 Edition: 250 Frame Size: 20" x 17" Sheet Size: 16 1/2" x 11" Image Size: 13"...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Hijiri with Hands Together, from 26 PortraitsBy Julian OpieLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Julian Opie Title: Hijiri with Hands Together Portfolio: 26 Portraits Medium: Lithograph Date: 2006 Edition: 250 Frame Size: 20" x 17" Sheet Size: 16 1/2" x 11" Image Size: 1...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Backyard Garden, Yue Minjun - Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, China Art, PrintBy Yue MinjunLocated in Zug, CHYue Minjun, Backyard Garden Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 x 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered in Roman numerals In mint condition, as acquired from the publisher PLEASE NOTE: Edition numbers could vary from the one shown in the pictures. The pictures shown are only for illustrative reasons, the piece is offered unframed. The print is mounted on double sheet of paper with a poem on one spread and print on the other. Backyard Garden belongs to the set of twenty lithographs from the “Snatched Ecstasy of Yue Minjun”, which comes as a limited edition of 130 rare books. The work of Yue Minjun is instantly recognizable with its uniform laughing faces, the artist's faces. Minjun creates various realities against which the laughing figures are rendered, thus creating ambiguous images, often with the sinister atmosphere, which comes as his personal cynical reaction to various social and political dimensions of contemporary Chinese realities. Immediately humorous and sympathetic, Yue Minjun’s paintings offer a light-hearted approach to philosophical enquiry and contemplation of existence. Yue’s self-portraits have been describe by theorist Li Xianting as “a self-ironic response to the spiritual vacuum and folly of modern-day China”, thus the acidic tones and commercialized vacuity of his works are used to underscore the insincerity of his figures’ mirth. “Art should be an expression of one's particular feelings and should be direct and deep. So I drew one person, and then added another and another until there were crowds of them. Then I felt my emotions to be fully expressed.„ —Yue Minjun YUE MINJUN Yue Min-Jun (born 1962, Daqing, China) is one of the leading Chinese artists. He is best known for oil paintings depicting formations of his laughing self-portraits in various settings. His iconography is easily recognisable, it challenges social and cultural conventions by depicting objects and political issues in a radical, abstract, ironic and cynical manner. Yue Min-Jun initially started painting as a hobby, subsequently he graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Hebei Normal University, China in 1985. In the 90s he joined an artist community in Yuan Ming...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Paean on Grassland, Yue Minjun - Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, China, PrintBy Yue MinjunLocated in Zug, CHYue Minjun, Paean on Grassland Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 x 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Ingres & I, Yue Minjun- Contemporary Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, ChineseBy Yue MinjunLocated in Zug, CHYue Minjun, Ingres and I Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 × 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered in Ro...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Backyard Garden, Yue Minjun - Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, China Art, PrintBy Yue MinjunLocated in Zug, CHYue Minjun, Backyard Garden Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 x 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered in...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Remarkable People, Yue Minjun- Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, ChineseBy Yue MinjunLocated in Zug, CHYue Minjun, Remarkable People Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 × 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered ...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Fighting, Yue Minjun - Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Art, PrintBy Yue MinjunLocated in Zug, CHYue Minjun, Fighting Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 x 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered in Roman numerals In mint condition, as acquired from the publisher PLEASE NOTE: Edition numbers could vary from the one shown in the pictures. The pictures shown are only for illustrative reasons, the piece is offered unframed. The print is mounted on double sheet of paper with a poem on one spread and print on the other. In fantastical paintings populated with heightened, hysterical self-portraits, Yue Minjun satirizes contemporary society and art historical tropes. Yue paints himself in fluorescent hues with a gaping grin. He occasionally multiplies his likeness, making his compositions even more menacing; his style has made him a pioneer of China’s Cynical Realism movement. Yue’s influences include Chinese socialist realism, Surrealism, and European classical paintings. He studied oil painting at Hebei Normal University in Shijiazhuang and has exhibited in Hong Kong, Berlin, Shenzhen, Shanghai, London, Basel, and New York. Yue has been the subject of numerous institutional shows at venues such as the Macao Museum, the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, the National Art Museum of China, the Kunstmuseum Bonn, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Bern. “[...] I choose to paint laughter, to communicate a sense of pleasure and happiness, but actually, it hides a double perspective of drama and suffering.„ —Yue Minjun YUE MINJUN Yue Min-Jun (born 1962, Daqing, China) is one of the leading Chinese artists. He is best known for oil paintings depicting formations of his laughing self-portraits in various settings. His iconography is easily recognisable, it challenges social and cultural conventions by depicting objects and political issues in a radical, abstract, ironic and cynical manner. Yue Min-Jun initially started painting as a hobby, subsequently he graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Hebei Normal University, China in 1985. In the 90s he joined an artist community in Yuan Ming Yuan, a village near Beijing where he began to form his style and iconography. The paintings, sculptures, and installations of Yue Minjun feature uniform laughing pink faces, which appear to be self-portraits. Through various symbols, metaphors, signs, or through depictions of daily life the artist constructs various realities against which the laughing figures are rendered. "In my work, laughter is a representation of a state of helplessness, lack of strength and participation, with the absence of our rights that society has imposed on us." —Yue Minjun Yue became famous after his participation in the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999, which granted him access to international art. One of the best-known paintings by Yue Minjun and an icon for modern Chinese art and the Cynical Realism movement is Execution. It was painted in 1995 and is generally regarded as a reaction to the Tiananmen Square...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
