When André Breton and Salvador Dalí discovered the ‘Boule suspendue’ in 1930, they were so enthusiastic that they identified within it a whole new category of things, ‘objets à fonction symbolique’ and eagerly welcomed Giacometti into their group of Surrealists. The sculptures created subsequently are fascinating, ambivalent displays of psychological processes in which, reflecting the obsessions of the Surrealists, the themes of violence and Eros dominate.

Material

Plaster and metal

Dimensions

61 x 36 x 33.5 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 019

Signature

inscr. on base l.: Plâtre original Alberto Giacometti; on base r.: Alberto Giacometti

Provenance

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