Alberto carved this small wooden figure while walking in the mountains along with the ‘Petite figurine’ (see GS 248), both of which he gave to a cousin. The slender branch gave him the inspiration for the extremely exaggerated length which is rendered even more dynamic by the flame-like crown.

The figure stretching upwards contains echoes of the ‘Objet invisible’, but its extremely elongated form also foreshadows the characteristic style of the mature period from 1947 onwards.

Apart from a bust of Rita (Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris), these are Alberto’s only preserved forays into woodcarving, created when he returned to figuration after his Surrealist period in around 1935–1937.

Material

Wood

Dimensions

34 cm

Creditline

Kunsthaus Zürich, Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung, Donated in memory of Margrit Bühler-Gredig, 2002

Object number

GS 247

Provenance

• Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft | Kunsthaus Zürich (Museum), ab 2002, Leihgabe
• Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung (Sammlung), Zürich, Geschenk zur Erinnerung an Margrit Bühler-Gredig, 2002
• Margrit Bühler-Gredig (Nichte von Vetia Michel) (Sammlerin), Uzwil
• Vetia Michel, Borgonovo, um 1935, Geschenk
• Alberto Giacometti