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.
Lampadaire Modèle "Figure"
By Alberto Giacometti
Located in PARIS, FR
• Created in the mid-1930s, the Figure floor lamp reflects Alberto Giacometti’s early exploration of the relationship between sculpture and functio...
Bronze
Lampadaire Etoile
By Alberto Giacometti
Located in PARIS, FR
• Designed by Alberto Giacometti in the mid-1930s, during his early work in decorative arts and interior design • The Lampadaire Étoile was design...
Bronze
$3,775
H 16 in W 7 in D 8 in
Woman Lying Down & Growing with Tree bronze sculpture by Yulla Lipchitz
Located in Hudson, NY
Organic, abstract bronze sculpture by Yulla Lipchitz of a woman lying down with a tree. About this artist: Yulla Lipchitz, née Halberstadt, was born on April 21, 1911 in Berlin, Ge...
Bronze
$5,500
H 26.5 in W 16 in
Morris Brose "Bronze Bull" Figurative Sculptural Abstract
Located in Detroit, MI
"Bronze Bull" is an exquisite example of Morris Brose's abstract/figurative sculpture. No soft edges on this piece and no invitation to caress, the power, strength and beauty of the bronze are front and center and create awe. "Bronze Bull" is a free-standing piece signed on the base. Morris Brose, Polish/American was born in Wyszkow, Poland. He became a sculptor and instructor of sculpture at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Wayne State University and Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Cranbrook was designed by architect and faculty member, Eliel Saarinen who collaborated with Charles and Ray Eames on chair and furniture design. Numerous creative artists who are alumni of Cranbrook include: Harry Bertoia, Florence Knoll, Jack Lenor Larsen, Donald Lipski...
Bronze
Large Gilt Bronze Sculptures of Cheetahs
Located in Rome, IT
Fantastic pair of gilt bronze Cheetahs sculptures . The item will be well-suited to either an indoor or outdoor setting.
Bronze
Seated Mother and Child
By Chaim Gross
Located in New York, NY
Bronze sculpture on wood base. Signature, edition number 11/47, and date inscribed in bronze on back. Cast by Joel Meisner & Co., Plainview , NY (foundry mark lower verso). Height ...
Bronze
$2,950
H 24.5 in W 17.5 in D 1 in
“Chinoi Plaque #2” Philip & Kelvin LaVerne Etched Bronze & Pewter Wall Plaque
Located in Yardley, PA
In “Chinoi #2,” Philip and Kelvin LaVerne return to their favorite theme of Chinoiserie reverie, rendering a lyrical vignette from acid etched bronze and pewter. A lone boy sits with...
Bronze, Metal
$2,950
H 24.5 in W 17.5 in D 1 in
“Chinoi Plaque #1” Philip & Kelvin LaVerne Etched Bronze & Pewter Wall Plaque
Located in Yardley, PA
In “Chinoi #1,” Philip and Kelvin LaVerne return to their favorite theme of Chinoiserie reverie, rendering a lyrical vignette from acid etched bronze and pewter. A lone figure ascend...
Metal, Bronze
$75,000
H 8 in W 8 in D 5 in
"Couple II" Mid 20th Century Modern Abstract Figurative 1940s European Sculpture
By Jacques Lipchitz
Located in New York, NY
"Couple II" Mid 20th Century Modern Abstract Figurative 1940s European Sculpture Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973) "Couple II" Bronze signed on the base The sculpture was conceived in 19...
Bronze
$4,796
H 74.81 in W 25.6 in D 11.82 in
Large Nike Torso-Bronze Sculpture Ed. 1/6
Located in Zug, CH
Hermann Rastorfer was a draftsman, painter, sculptor, illustrator, ceramist, designer, poster artist, developer of advertising concepts and communication campaigns, inventor, and architect. He began as a typesetter in Salzburg. In the mid-1950s, he moved to Germany, where he soon founded his own studio for graphic design and advertising. His goal was always to give each product a distinctive, highly recognizable appearance. He designed his own design line for the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, artistic cover images for numerous paperbacks from renowned publishers, and packaging for well-known products such as Ferrero Küsschen, Mon Chéri, Martell cognac...
Bronze
Large Gilt Bronze Sculptures of Herons
Located in Rome, IT
Elegant pair of gilt bronze heron sculptures . The item will be well-suited to either an indoor or outdoor setting.
Bronze
$2,350
H 7.5 in W 11.5 in D 7 in
"Owl" Bronze Sculpture, Caricature, Rich Dark Brown Surface
Located in Detroit, MI
The bronze sculpture "Owl" is an exaggerated rendition of an owl that emphasizes the bird's most prominant characteristics - a big fluffy round body and large unblinking eyes making it a charicature of the bird. It is very touchable and calls for one to pet its rounded back. Tom Brun, the sculptor and zookeeper, is well-known for his wood, stone, marble, ceramics and ivory sculptures. One of them, a large hippopotamus, carved from walnut wood travelled the world in the State Department collection. It is said that Tom would often go into a house and pick up one of his sculptures and say that it was unfriendly – meaning that it had not been handled enough. Morley Driver has said of Brun in a newspaper article from the 1950’s “In Any Animal He Sees Beauty”: No one who has ever seen a Tom Brun hippopotamus will ever again think of it as ugly or ungainly, meaning that the artist not only gives you beauty but teaches you to see it. Tom has said: “Small pieces are like a proverb – a gem of meaning that one can dissect.” They are meant to be picked up, caressed and held. This owl, too, seems destined to be caressed. Brun was born in England in 1913. A few years after the end of World War I his father moved the family in 1919 to Detroit, Michigan. In 1935 at age 23, he officially became a U.S. citizen. He served in the army during World War II for five years and upon discharge and at the age of 36 took advantage of the GI Bill and applied for admission to Society of Arts and Crafts (now known as the College for Creative Studies) where he was gladly accepted. While at Arts and Crafts his instructors and established artists such as Sarkis Sarkisian, John P. Foster, Morris Brose, Richard Koslow, Patricia Burnett, Lloyd and Renee Radell...
Bronze
Large Gilt Bronze Sculptures of Herons
Located in Rome, IT
Elegant pair of gilt bronze heron sculptures . The item will be well-suited to either an indoor or outdoor setting.
Bronze
Walking Man
By Maxine Kim Stussy 1
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Maxine Kim Stussy, a prolific sculptor and painter from the late 1940’s to present. Maxine led an incredibly artistic life traveling the world with h...
Bronze
Lampadaire à tête de femme
By Alberto Giacometti
Located in Greenwich, CT
Bronze wired lamp by Alberto Giacometti Ed. 3/4 Posthumous cast c. 1977-78 Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss artist known for his totemic sculptures of elongated human figures. Giacomet...
Bronze