Lying Nude, c. 1923/1924
Nu couchée

The 15 nude drawings (GS 081–GS 095) from the years 1921–1924 were all executed in the Académie de la Grande Chaumière under the direction of Giacometti’s teacher Antoine Bourdelle. They are characterized by the deconstruction of organically flowing forms into stereometrically conjoined, angular surfaces.

After the first, freer or more indeterminate images, the angular schematization comes increasingly to the fore; the body evolves clearly in space until the figure is translated into a form of crystalline clarity.

Material
Graphite on light brown discolored paper
Dimensions
32.6 x 33.5 cm
Creditline
Kunsthaus Zürich, Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung, 1965
Object number
GS 094
Signature
later inscribed bottom right: 1923–24 / Alberto Giacometti
Further information
Belongs with GS 081–095
Provenance
  • Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft | Kunsthaus Zürich (Museum), frühestens ab 1965, Leihgabe
  • Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung (Sammlung), Zürich, frühestens 1965, Übernahme
  • Alberto Giacometti-Syndikat, Zürich, 1963, Kauf
  • Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 1963, Kauf
  • Sammlung G. David Thompson, Pittsburgh
  • Alberto Giacometti