Suspended Ball, 1930
Boule suspendue

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