The ‘Tête sur tige’ evokes the wondrous yet terrifying aspects of the new perception, which blends intense presence with deathly fixation. Giacometti had already given expression to these two aspects in the ‘Tête crane’ of his late Surrealist phase; but now, through the almost realistic, craggy treatment, he achieves a vastly more intense expression, horrifying in its thematic associations and visually captivating with its unfathomable state of arousal.

Material

Plaster, painted

Dimensions

50 x 12.5 x 17 cm

Creditline

Kunstmuseum Basel, on permanent loan from the Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung, 1965

This work is on long-term loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel

Object number

GS 033

Signature

inscr. on plinth, left (with paintbrush): Alberto Giacometti; on plinth, right (in pencil): Alberto

Provenance

• Kunstmuseum Basel, frühestens ab 1965, Dauerleihgabe
• Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung (Sammlung), Zürich, frühestens 1965, Übernahme
• Alberto Giacometti-Syndikat, 1963, Kauf
• Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 1963, Kauf
• Sammlung G. David Thompson, Pittsburgh, 1954, Kauf
• Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
• Sammlung OʼConnell
• Verbleib unbekannt
• Pierre Matisse (Sammler), 1948, Kauf
• Alberto Giacometti