Giacometti 1947-53
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Top 10 Sculpture Giacometti The Man The Woman Femme debout
Chronology : 20th century 1940-1949 1947 1948 1949 1950-1959 1950 1952
See also : Top 10 Sculpture Giacometti The Man The Woman Femme debout
Chronology : 20th century 1940-1949 1947 1948 1949 1950-1959 1950 1952
1947 L'Homme au Doigt
2015 SOLD for $ 140M by Christie's
After the war Alberto Giacometti reinstalled himself in his Parisian studio which had been carefully maintained by Diego. His life is stabilized by his meeting with Annette. He wants to exhibit through his sculptures his own view about the human nature, close to Sartre's existentialism.
Alberto appreciates that some new art is required and that his diminutive sculptures will not appeal anybody. His characters will now be life-size. They will be threadlike as the floor lamps that the artist formerly conceived for Jean-Michel Frank, fragile in their bodies and solid in their bronze. These humans are not identifiable but the original plaster tirelessly kneaded by the artist's hand brings them a tormented texture that resembles their creator.
The seminal story of his new creativity takes place immediately after the war, tentatively in 1945. He goes to the cinema in Montparnasse. On the boulevard, he sees men walking and women standing. Everyone knows the reason for his or her immediate action, which is not accessible to others. A crowd is a gathering of lonely characters. Alberto is no longer inspired by cinema, which is nothing more than a projection of light on a screen. He decides that his art will be closer to real life.
Pierre Matisse is interested and promises to organize an exhibition in New York in January 1948 of this art which, in October 1947, does not yet exist. The works must be designed and the bronzes have to be melt. The artist is in a hurry which is not his usual practice. The meeting with the agents of the foundry is scheduled for the next morning. Alberto is not ready.
He is not happy with his prototype and demolishes it. In a night of frenzied creation, he realizes L'Homme au doigt. When it is carried out for the factory, the plaster is achieved but it is still wet. Seven bronzes including an artist's proof are edited by the Alexis Rudier company.
The man points the finger to show the way to the other two sculptures in the trilogy, L'Homme qui marche and his opposite the everlasting Femme debout. This horizontal finger is a sign of authority, hope and renewal. L'Homme au doigt emits the founding message before disappearing from Alberto's creations, unlike the other two figures that will accompany his whole career,
The plaster had been kneaded in a hurry, giving a tormented and scarred texture from which some observers said that L'Homme au doigt is Alberto's self portrait. One bronze, the number 6/6, was hand-painted by the artist. It strengthens the resemblance. The pointing man is not God between Adam and Eve, he is Alberto, the creative artist.
This number 6/6 178 cm high is the most outstanding piece of bronze by Alberto. It was sold for $ 140M by Christie's on May 11, 2015, lot 29A.
Man is walking with energy but nobody knows why, not even the character. The energy of his step is useful, or not, his compass shaped legs prophesying the imbalance of the future. Woman is waiting and passive. She however must have a role, like the tree in the forest.
Other figures will soon be created as well as groups and busts.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Trivia Encyclopedia @edpearce080759 May 11, 2023
"L'Homme au doigt" (man pointing) a 1947 work by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti was auctioned for $141.3m at Christie's in New York City on May 11, 2015, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at an auction. https://encyclopaediaoftrivia.blogspot.com/2017/11/sculpture.html…
Alberto appreciates that some new art is required and that his diminutive sculptures will not appeal anybody. His characters will now be life-size. They will be threadlike as the floor lamps that the artist formerly conceived for Jean-Michel Frank, fragile in their bodies and solid in their bronze. These humans are not identifiable but the original plaster tirelessly kneaded by the artist's hand brings them a tormented texture that resembles their creator.
The seminal story of his new creativity takes place immediately after the war, tentatively in 1945. He goes to the cinema in Montparnasse. On the boulevard, he sees men walking and women standing. Everyone knows the reason for his or her immediate action, which is not accessible to others. A crowd is a gathering of lonely characters. Alberto is no longer inspired by cinema, which is nothing more than a projection of light on a screen. He decides that his art will be closer to real life.
Pierre Matisse is interested and promises to organize an exhibition in New York in January 1948 of this art which, in October 1947, does not yet exist. The works must be designed and the bronzes have to be melt. The artist is in a hurry which is not his usual practice. The meeting with the agents of the foundry is scheduled for the next morning. Alberto is not ready.
He is not happy with his prototype and demolishes it. In a night of frenzied creation, he realizes L'Homme au doigt. When it is carried out for the factory, the plaster is achieved but it is still wet. Seven bronzes including an artist's proof are edited by the Alexis Rudier company.
The man points the finger to show the way to the other two sculptures in the trilogy, L'Homme qui marche and his opposite the everlasting Femme debout. This horizontal finger is a sign of authority, hope and renewal. L'Homme au doigt emits the founding message before disappearing from Alberto's creations, unlike the other two figures that will accompany his whole career,
The plaster had been kneaded in a hurry, giving a tormented and scarred texture from which some observers said that L'Homme au doigt is Alberto's self portrait. One bronze, the number 6/6, was hand-painted by the artist. It strengthens the resemblance. The pointing man is not God between Adam and Eve, he is Alberto, the creative artist.
This number 6/6 178 cm high is the most outstanding piece of bronze by Alberto. It was sold for $ 140M by Christie's on May 11, 2015, lot 29A.
Man is walking with energy but nobody knows why, not even the character. The energy of his step is useful, or not, his compass shaped legs prophesying the imbalance of the future. Woman is waiting and passive. She however must have a role, like the tree in the forest.
Other figures will soon be created as well as groups and busts.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Trivia Encyclopedia @edpearce080759 May 11, 2023
"L'Homme au doigt" (man pointing) a 1947 work by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti was auctioned for $141.3m at Christie's in New York City on May 11, 2015, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at an auction. https://encyclopaediaoftrivia.blogspot.com/2017/11/sculpture.html…
- "L'Homme au doigt," created by Alberto Giacometti in 1947, reflects his unique technique of elongating figures to explore human fragility, with studies showing his sculptures evoke existential themes backed by art historians like Reinhold Hohl in Alberto Giacometti (1971).
- The $141.3 million sale in 2015 at Christie's broke records, surpassing Giacometti's prior high of $103.4 million for "Walking Man I" in 2010, highlighting a surge in demand for modern art fueled by wealthy collectors, with global art auction sales reaching $26 billion that year per TEFAF's Art Market Report.
- The anonymous buyer's possible Asian origin aligns with a trend of Asian collectors dominating high-value art purchases, as evidenced by a 2023 Art Basel report noting 29% of global auction sales now come from Asia, challenging Western art market dominance.
Giacometti apparently did not reuse his primordial figure L'Homme au Doigt after the seminal 1947 cast of 6 plus 1 artist's proof. Tell the reason why : existentialist thoughts or technical issue with the pointing arms and finger ? Where are now the plasters and bronzes of L'Homme au Doigt ? Compare with Le Nez, conceived in plaster in 1947 but apparently not cast in bronze before 1964.
Alberto Giacometti's L'Homme au doigt (Pointing Man), conceived in 1947, was cast in bronze in an edition of six numbered copies plus one artist's proof shortly after its creation (using the Alexis Rudier foundry). Contrary to the premise in your question, Giacometti did cast and edition the work in 1947–48, rather than limiting it to a single cast or avoiding reuse of the model.
The sculpture was modeled in plaster in a single intense session (Giacometti described completing it "in one night between midnight and nine the next morning," with the plaster still wet when collected by the foundry). No reliable sources indicate that he deliberately avoided recasting or editions due to existentialist philosophy (though his postwar figures, including this one, are often interpreted through an existential lens of isolation, fragility, and human presence, as discussed by Jean-Paul Sartre) or technical difficulties with the extended pointing arm and finger (the thin, elongated forms were characteristic of his mature style and successfully cast without noted structural issues).
Current Locations of L'Homme au doigt Casts
Comparison with Le Nez
Le Nez (The Nose), also conceived in plaster in 1947 (with a revised version in 1949), follows a different trajectory: Giacometti reworked the composition multiple times over the years (altering the cage structure, suspension, and details), but he did not authorize bronze casting until around 1964–65. This delay aligns with his postwar practice for some works—keeping plasters in the studio for ongoing modification rather than immediate editioning—possibly reflecting his relentless pursuit of capturing perceptual "reality" and distance (a phenomenological concern tied to existential themes of alienation and the absurd). The bronze edition (typically 6 casts) was produced later, with examples in institutions like the Centre Pompidou (Paris) and private collections. Original and variant plasters remain with the Fondation Giacometti.
In summary, while both works emerged from Giacometti's pivotal 1947 breakthrough toward elongated, emaciated figures symbolizing postwar human vulnerability, L'Homme au doigt was promptly editioned in bronze, whereas Le Nez exemplifies his habit of delaying casting for certain pieces to allow further evolution. No evidence supports a specific technical fragility in the pointing gesture as a reason for limited production.
Alberto Giacometti's L'Homme au doigt (Pointing Man), conceived in 1947, was cast in bronze in an edition of six numbered copies plus one artist's proof shortly after its creation (using the Alexis Rudier foundry). Contrary to the premise in your question, Giacometti did cast and edition the work in 1947–48, rather than limiting it to a single cast or avoiding reuse of the model.
The sculpture was modeled in plaster in a single intense session (Giacometti described completing it "in one night between midnight and nine the next morning," with the plaster still wet when collected by the foundry). No reliable sources indicate that he deliberately avoided recasting or editions due to existentialist philosophy (though his postwar figures, including this one, are often interpreted through an existential lens of isolation, fragility, and human presence, as discussed by Jean-Paul Sartre) or technical difficulties with the extended pointing arm and finger (the thin, elongated forms were characteristic of his mature style and successfully cast without noted structural issues).
Current Locations of L'Homme au doigt Casts
- Four casts are in major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, and Tate Modern, London.
- The remaining casts are held by the Fondation Giacometti (Paris) and private collections.
- One notable cast (6/6, hand-painted by the artist) sold at Christie's in 2015 for $141.3 million (a record for any sculpture at auction) and is now in a private collection (reportedly owned by Steven A. Cohen).
Comparison with Le Nez
Le Nez (The Nose), also conceived in plaster in 1947 (with a revised version in 1949), follows a different trajectory: Giacometti reworked the composition multiple times over the years (altering the cage structure, suspension, and details), but he did not authorize bronze casting until around 1964–65. This delay aligns with his postwar practice for some works—keeping plasters in the studio for ongoing modification rather than immediate editioning—possibly reflecting his relentless pursuit of capturing perceptual "reality" and distance (a phenomenological concern tied to existential themes of alienation and the absurd). The bronze edition (typically 6 casts) was produced later, with examples in institutions like the Centre Pompidou (Paris) and private collections. Original and variant plasters remain with the Fondation Giacometti.
In summary, while both works emerged from Giacometti's pivotal 1947 breakthrough toward elongated, emaciated figures symbolizing postwar human vulnerability, L'Homme au doigt was promptly editioned in bronze, whereas Le Nez exemplifies his habit of delaying casting for certain pieces to allow further evolution. No evidence supports a specific technical fragility in the pointing gesture as a reason for limited production.
masterpiece
1947-1949 Le Nez
Fondation Giacometti
In his post war nightmares and hallucinations, Alberto Giacometti lost the discrimination between the living and the dead. He is a sculptor : in 1947 he manages to immobilize this ambiguity in plasters. Fragmenting the human organs, he conceives Le Nez, La Main and Tête sur tige. Questioning the beyond in the same year, he creates his existentialist trinity led by L'Homme au doigt.
Le Nez is a full head hanging to a rope within a cage, so that it cannot be perceived as a mere bust. The threadlike posts and bars of the cage are similar as those conceived by him is the 1930s for staging Surrealist figures. Such an existentialist expression of human forms in a cage had a decisive influence on Francis Bacon.
The narwhal tooth shaped straight nose extends far beyond the volume of the cage, providing a fake liberty to the encaged figure. The mouth is wide open for a scream. The very first plaster also had a red painted tongue and a spiral red clown wrap around the nose.
There is no doubt that the fragile balance of Le Nez was very difficult to transfer to bronze. That was done in 1965 by Susse in an edition of 6 plus 2 additional proofs. The head is cast from a replica of the 1949 plaster while the cage had been narrowed in the previous year for a more protruding effect of the nose. The cage is 81 cm high. Small roundels under the four posts assure a stability to that fragile piece.
Existentialist meaning of Le Nez, conceived by Giacometti in plaster in 1947 and 1949.
Alberto Giacometti's Le Nez (The Nose), conceived in plaster in 1947 and revised in a key version in 1949 (later cast in bronze), is one of his most enigmatic postwar sculptures. It features a skeletal human head with hollow eyes, a gaping mouth, and an exaggeratedly long nose protruding horizontally, suspended within an open metal cage-like structure, where the nose piercingly extends beyond the frame.
This work emerged in the aftermath of World War II, a period when Giacometti, deeply affected by death and loss (including personal memories and the broader trauma of the war), grappled with human fragility and mortality. Researchers note that "Le Nez" carries the memory of recent deaths, reflecting the artist's haunting obsession with transience.
Existentialist Interpretations
Though Giacometti's friend Jean-Paul Sartre popularized an existentialist reading of his elongated, isolated figures as emblems of postwar alienation and the absurdity of existence (e.g., in Sartre's 1948 essay "The Search for the Absolute"), some critics argue this was somewhat imposed—Giacometti's despair stemmed more from the impossible quest to capture fleeting reality than pure philosophical romance.
Yet Le Nez powerfully evokes existential themes:
Ultimately, Le Nez embodies the human condition as isolated, anguished, and absurdly striving amid emptiness—a visual echo of existentialist concerns with authenticity, mortality, and the search for meaning in a postwar world stripped of illusions.
Le Nez is a full head hanging to a rope within a cage, so that it cannot be perceived as a mere bust. The threadlike posts and bars of the cage are similar as those conceived by him is the 1930s for staging Surrealist figures. Such an existentialist expression of human forms in a cage had a decisive influence on Francis Bacon.
The narwhal tooth shaped straight nose extends far beyond the volume of the cage, providing a fake liberty to the encaged figure. The mouth is wide open for a scream. The very first plaster also had a red painted tongue and a spiral red clown wrap around the nose.
There is no doubt that the fragile balance of Le Nez was very difficult to transfer to bronze. That was done in 1965 by Susse in an edition of 6 plus 2 additional proofs. The head is cast from a replica of the 1949 plaster while the cage had been narrowed in the previous year for a more protruding effect of the nose. The cage is 81 cm high. Small roundels under the four posts assure a stability to that fragile piece.
Existentialist meaning of Le Nez, conceived by Giacometti in plaster in 1947 and 1949.
Alberto Giacometti's Le Nez (The Nose), conceived in plaster in 1947 and revised in a key version in 1949 (later cast in bronze), is one of his most enigmatic postwar sculptures. It features a skeletal human head with hollow eyes, a gaping mouth, and an exaggeratedly long nose protruding horizontally, suspended within an open metal cage-like structure, where the nose piercingly extends beyond the frame.
This work emerged in the aftermath of World War II, a period when Giacometti, deeply affected by death and loss (including personal memories and the broader trauma of the war), grappled with human fragility and mortality. Researchers note that "Le Nez" carries the memory of recent deaths, reflecting the artist's haunting obsession with transience.
Existentialist Interpretations
Though Giacometti's friend Jean-Paul Sartre popularized an existentialist reading of his elongated, isolated figures as emblems of postwar alienation and the absurdity of existence (e.g., in Sartre's 1948 essay "The Search for the Absolute"), some critics argue this was somewhat imposed—Giacometti's despair stemmed more from the impossible quest to capture fleeting reality than pure philosophical romance.
Yet Le Nez powerfully evokes existential themes:
- Isolation and confinement — The head trapped in its cage suggests entrapment in an indifferent void, mirroring existential notions of human solitude and freedom's burden.
- Fragility and the absurd — The grotesque, phallic nose (evoking Pinocchio's lies or surreal distortions) pierces boundaries aggressively yet futilely, symbolizing a desperate reach beyond limits into nothingness.
- Life-death tension — Inspired partly by Giacometti's 1946 text "The Dream, the Sphinx and the Death of T.," where faces become object-like and deathly, the sculpture hovers between presence and residue—being and non-being—with its skull-like features and suspended form implying a limbo state.
Ultimately, Le Nez embodies the human condition as isolated, anguished, and absurdly striving amid emptiness—a visual echo of existentialist concerns with authenticity, mortality, and the search for meaning in a postwar world stripped of illusions.
1948 La Main
2010 SOLD for $ 26M by Christie's
In 1946, Alberto Giacometti is not satisfied with his own art. His plaster figurines are expressive but too small. Haunted by the conjunction of death memories and of nightmares, he abandons the realistic figure of the body for a new wire-drawn disproportion.
1947 is his great year of creativity, including L'homme qui marche (walking man) who was to remain his most powerful work, the masterpiece of the derision of man in his loneliness.
The flesh is a mystery that has no meaning after death. All organs may contribute to the expression. The mouth in his Head on rod is wide open in the agony. The sculpture entitled La Main is actually a hand with long opened fingers at the end of a complete folded arm also mounted on a rod.
A hand does not require the rest of the body for expressing a passion. This asexual hand holds nothing. Fingers crave but the wide opening of the elbow is a gesture of hope.
Pierre Matisse appreciates that Alberto has become one of the most important artists of his time. With the financial participation of Matisse, Giacometti can commission bronzes of his new works to the best foundry in Paris, the Alexis Rudier workshop.
The serial number 1 of the first edition cast by Rudier in 1947 was part of the seminal exhibition of the new art of Giacometti opened by Matisse in New York on January 19, 1948. This bronze with brown patina 57 x 72 x 3.5 cm passed at Christie's on June 24, 2014.
A bronze of La Main in the same dimension with brown and green patina cast by Rudier in March 1948 was sold for $ 26M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Christie's on May 4, 2010, lot 30.
1947 is his great year of creativity, including L'homme qui marche (walking man) who was to remain his most powerful work, the masterpiece of the derision of man in his loneliness.
The flesh is a mystery that has no meaning after death. All organs may contribute to the expression. The mouth in his Head on rod is wide open in the agony. The sculpture entitled La Main is actually a hand with long opened fingers at the end of a complete folded arm also mounted on a rod.
A hand does not require the rest of the body for expressing a passion. This asexual hand holds nothing. Fingers crave but the wide opening of the elbow is a gesture of hope.
Pierre Matisse appreciates that Alberto has become one of the most important artists of his time. With the financial participation of Matisse, Giacometti can commission bronzes of his new works to the best foundry in Paris, the Alexis Rudier workshop.
The serial number 1 of the first edition cast by Rudier in 1947 was part of the seminal exhibition of the new art of Giacometti opened by Matisse in New York on January 19, 1948. This bronze with brown patina 57 x 72 x 3.5 cm passed at Christie's on June 24, 2014.
A bronze of La Main in the same dimension with brown and green patina cast by Rudier in March 1948 was sold for $ 26M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Christie's on May 4, 2010, lot 30.
1948 Grande Figure
2017 SOLD for £ 18M by Sotheby's
The attitude of the frail and stoic femme debout will remain unchanged throughout Alberto's career as if this perfectionist artist had at first found how to express the timeless woman. With her strictly joined legs she is inspired from the Egyptian anthropomorphic coffins. Gilt or perched on a chariot to be worshiped, she is the mother goddess of Alberto's existentialist pantheon.
On June 21, 2017, Sotheby's sold for £ 18M Grande Figure, a bronze 1.30 m high in a patina of dark gold color, lot 57. Cast as a unique copy by the Alexis Rudier company in Paris in 1948 from a plaster dated 1947, it is one of the earliest large size examples of Alberto's standing woman.
On June 21, 2017, Sotheby's sold for £ 18M Grande Figure, a bronze 1.30 m high in a patina of dark gold color, lot 57. Cast as a unique copy by the Alexis Rudier company in Paris in 1948 from a plaster dated 1947, it is one of the earliest large size examples of Alberto's standing woman.
L'Homme qui chavire
1
1950
2007 SOLD for $ 18.5M by Christie's
Sketched by Giacometti as early as 1947, L'Homme qui chavire appears as the vulnerable counterpart against the glorious existentialist triad of L'homme au doigt, L'homme qui marche and La femme debout. The sculpture is prepared in 1950 in small size, 59 cm high including the base.
Everything in the attitude indicates that the character is in a full loss of control : he is perched on tiptoe, head back, arms beating the air. The statue will not fall, because the composition is perfectly balanced by the position of the arms in an arc. This is indeed one of the most dynamic works by Giacometti.
The bronze 2/6 from the 1950 casting by Alexis Rudier fondeur was sold for $ 18.5M from a lower estimate of $ 6.5M by Christie's on May 9, 2007, lot 51. It has a dark brown patina. Its exhibition history begins in November 1950 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, before the 1951 attributed to the 5/6 and 6/6.
L'Homme qui chavire has a quieter twin of similar size, Homme traversant une place par un matin de soleil. This man walking with stretched hanging arms is not aware of how soon will be his fall. Both figures have a very tiny head which is another characteristic in opposition to the Trinity.
Everything in the attitude indicates that the character is in a full loss of control : he is perched on tiptoe, head back, arms beating the air. The statue will not fall, because the composition is perfectly balanced by the position of the arms in an arc. This is indeed one of the most dynamic works by Giacometti.
The bronze 2/6 from the 1950 casting by Alexis Rudier fondeur was sold for $ 18.5M from a lower estimate of $ 6.5M by Christie's on May 9, 2007, lot 51. It has a dark brown patina. Its exhibition history begins in November 1950 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, before the 1951 attributed to the 5/6 and 6/6.
L'Homme qui chavire has a quieter twin of similar size, Homme traversant une place par un matin de soleil. This man walking with stretched hanging arms is not aware of how soon will be his fall. Both figures have a very tiny head which is another characteristic in opposition to the Trinity.
2
1951 5/6
2009 SOLD for $ 19.3M by Sotheby's
The bronze 5/6 from 1951 by Alexis Rudier fondeur was sold by Sotheby's on November 4, 2009 for $ 19.3M from a lower estimate of $ 8M, lot 10. It is the only painted copy from that edition.
3
1951 6/6
2021 SOLD for £ 13.7M by Christie's
The bronze 6/6 from 1951 by Alexis Rudier fondeur was sold for £ 13.7M by Christie's in London on June 30, 2021, lot 11. It has a dark brown patina.
1950 La Clairière
2018 SOLD for $ 15.8M by Christie's
People may live at the same place. This does not mean that they will communicate with each other. In 1948 Giacometti expresses this paradox in his first sculptures with multiple figures, desperately trying to find a logical order of the humanity.
.
In 1948 he positions together on a tray several copies of his walking man, like a child playing with tin soldiers. The Trois Hommes qui marchent are produced in two versions, identified I and II (grand plateau and petit plateau respectively). The three characters approach or move away from each other. Compared with the petit plateau, the grand plateau provides the illusion of an open and non claustrophobic scenery.
With Les Trois hommes qui marchent, the lack of communication leads to collision. La Place is also prepared in two versions. The movements cease to be incoherent : a group is being formed. These four works provide the most genuine response to the artist's existentialist quest.
The four men and the unique woman of La Place play their comedy on a rectangular platform 62 cm long. They are small and scattered, giving an impression of great void. It is easy to recognize among them the most iconic silhouette of all Alberto's characters, L'Homme qui marche.
One from six bronzes of La Place I cast by Alexis Rudier company in 1948 was sold for $ 13M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2014.
La Place II, conceived in 1948, pushes the same five characters close to one edge of the 67 cm long platform. The standing woman is attracting three walking men on her left and one man on her right. Cast in 1949, the number 1/6 was sold for $ 14.6M by Christie's on May 6, 2008, lot 32. It has a brown and black patina.
The bronzes of such difficult figures with several thin characters were feats by the Alexis Rudier foundry.In 1950 Pierre Matisse asks for a new exhibition which will confirm the great success of the previous one in 1947. It is necessary to include new works but Alberto had not found a satisfactory answer concerning human communication. He will never find any. What to do ?
In his studio Alberto has multiplied the individual figures with mostly standing women in a gradually increasing elongation. Suddenly he looks at the mess of his studio as a whole. The sculptures had been divided into small groups without any voluntary intervention. He will accordingly create artworks without modifying this assembly of chance.
Alberto has another vision : his women are so stretched that they look like trees. He creates La Forêt (the forest) and La Clairière (the glade).
Compared with the earlier groups, the figures remain on their bases but the uniqueness of scale is canceled. The limbs are united with the body like for a standing woman but the head is still outlined at the top of the tree. Not only each character is alone, but in addition he is nothing.
La Forêt features a weird group of six character-trees of various heights accompanied by a small bust of Diego. A bronze 58 cm high cast in 1950 by Alexis Rudier was sold for $ 13.2M by Christie's on May 7, 2002, lot 34.
La Clairière, 59 cm high on a surface of 65 x 52 cm, is the most complex with nine standing women and less mystic because it does not include the idol bust of Diego. A copy cast by Alexis Rudier company between 1950 and 1952 was sold for $ 15.8M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Christie's on May 15, 2018, lot 17 A.
.
In 1948 he positions together on a tray several copies of his walking man, like a child playing with tin soldiers. The Trois Hommes qui marchent are produced in two versions, identified I and II (grand plateau and petit plateau respectively). The three characters approach or move away from each other. Compared with the petit plateau, the grand plateau provides the illusion of an open and non claustrophobic scenery.
With Les Trois hommes qui marchent, the lack of communication leads to collision. La Place is also prepared in two versions. The movements cease to be incoherent : a group is being formed. These four works provide the most genuine response to the artist's existentialist quest.
The four men and the unique woman of La Place play their comedy on a rectangular platform 62 cm long. They are small and scattered, giving an impression of great void. It is easy to recognize among them the most iconic silhouette of all Alberto's characters, L'Homme qui marche.
One from six bronzes of La Place I cast by Alexis Rudier company in 1948 was sold for $ 13M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2014.
La Place II, conceived in 1948, pushes the same five characters close to one edge of the 67 cm long platform. The standing woman is attracting three walking men on her left and one man on her right. Cast in 1949, the number 1/6 was sold for $ 14.6M by Christie's on May 6, 2008, lot 32. It has a brown and black patina.
The bronzes of such difficult figures with several thin characters were feats by the Alexis Rudier foundry.In 1950 Pierre Matisse asks for a new exhibition which will confirm the great success of the previous one in 1947. It is necessary to include new works but Alberto had not found a satisfactory answer concerning human communication. He will never find any. What to do ?
In his studio Alberto has multiplied the individual figures with mostly standing women in a gradually increasing elongation. Suddenly he looks at the mess of his studio as a whole. The sculptures had been divided into small groups without any voluntary intervention. He will accordingly create artworks without modifying this assembly of chance.
Alberto has another vision : his women are so stretched that they look like trees. He creates La Forêt (the forest) and La Clairière (the glade).
Compared with the earlier groups, the figures remain on their bases but the uniqueness of scale is canceled. The limbs are united with the body like for a standing woman but the head is still outlined at the top of the tree. Not only each character is alone, but in addition he is nothing.
La Forêt features a weird group of six character-trees of various heights accompanied by a small bust of Diego. A bronze 58 cm high cast in 1950 by Alexis Rudier was sold for $ 13.2M by Christie's on May 7, 2002, lot 34.
La Clairière, 59 cm high on a surface of 65 x 52 cm, is the most complex with nine standing women and less mystic because it does not include the idol bust of Diego. A copy cast by Alexis Rudier company between 1950 and 1952 was sold for $ 15.8M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Christie's on May 15, 2018, lot 17 A.
Trois Hommes qui marchent
Intro
Great artists are building their own universe. In 1948, Alberto Giacometti chose this wire-like style that will constitute his trademark and began the theme of the man who walks, or who is trying to walk.
Some are shown in groups. The Trois hommes qui marchent I (three walking men I) will soon be telescoped. Three walking men II are leaving from each other in a contradictory movement, for which a moment before is impossible. It is a powerful work, which reminds that the artist had been tempted by surrealism.
Also in 1948, la Place (the square) shows five characters further apart, expressing the loneliness of every man in the crowd.
This great creative impulse will be achieved through the exhibition of works at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in 1950. La Forêt (the forest) and La Clairière (the glade) provide a coherent meaning to the whole. They are designed like the square, but impersonal trees have superseded the men. The arms and legs are united with the body but the head is still outlined at the top of the tree. Not only each man is alone, but in addition he is nothing.
On June 22, 2011, Sotheby's sold for £ 10.7M a copy of the Trois hommes qui marchent II cast by Alexis Rudier company as early as 1948. This bronze with a rich brown patina, 76 cm high, once belonged to Pierre Matisse.
Some are shown in groups. The Trois hommes qui marchent I (three walking men I) will soon be telescoped. Three walking men II are leaving from each other in a contradictory movement, for which a moment before is impossible. It is a powerful work, which reminds that the artist had been tempted by surrealism.
Also in 1948, la Place (the square) shows five characters further apart, expressing the loneliness of every man in the crowd.
This great creative impulse will be achieved through the exhibition of works at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in 1950. La Forêt (the forest) and La Clairière (the glade) provide a coherent meaning to the whole. They are designed like the square, but impersonal trees have superseded the men. The arms and legs are united with the body but the head is still outlined at the top of the tree. Not only each man is alone, but in addition he is nothing.
On June 22, 2011, Sotheby's sold for £ 10.7M a copy of the Trois hommes qui marchent II cast by Alexis Rudier company as early as 1948. This bronze with a rich brown patina, 76 cm high, once belonged to Pierre Matisse.
1
1950
2020 SOLD for £ 11.3M by Christie's
The story told by Giacometti takes place immediately after the war, tentatively in 1945. He goes to the cinema in Montparnasse. On the boulevard, he sees men walking and women standing. Everyone knows the reason for his or her immediate action, which is not accessible to others. A crowd is a gathering of lonely characters. Alberto is no longer inspired by cinema, which is nothing more than a projection of light on a screen. He decides that his art will be closer to real life.
He creates his world in 1947 with characters as threadlike as the barrels of the lamps which he produced before the war for Frank. His seminal trinity includes the man with the finger who will never reappear, like the Godot of his friend Beckett.
From 1948 he tries some variations of attitude such as L'Homme qui marche sous la pluie or L'Homme qui chavire. They are as ephemeral as L'Homme au doigt, because they do not deal with the mystery of the solitude of the individual in the group.
In 1948 he positions together on a tray several copies of his walking man, like a child playing with toy soldiers. The Trois Hommes qui marchent are produced in two versions, identified I and II (grand plateau and petit plateau respectively). The three characters approach or move away from each other. Compared with the petit plateau, the grand plateau provides the illusion of an open and non claustrophobic scenery.
Beside Trois hommes qui marchent, La Place, featuring four walking men and a standing woman, is also prepared in two versions. The movements in La Place cease to be incoherent : a group is being formed. These four works provide the most genuine response to the artist's existentialist quest. In 1950 his creativity will be more fanciful, with the grouping of characters of various scales.
The bronzes of such difficult figures with several thin characters were feats by the Alexis Rudier foundry.
Trois Hommes qui marchent I, 72 cm high, was edited in six copies starting in 1950. The number 2/6, made in 1950 with a dark brown patina, was sold for £ 9.4M by Sotheby's on June 25, 2008 and for £ 11.3M by Christie's on February 5, 2020, lot 14.
The 4/6, cast in 1950 with a brown and gold patina, was sold for $ 11.5M by Christie's on November 6, 2008, lot 21.
A bronze cast in 1948 of Trois Hommes qui marchent II, 76 cm high, was sold for £ 10.7M by Sotheby's on June 22, 2011.
He creates his world in 1947 with characters as threadlike as the barrels of the lamps which he produced before the war for Frank. His seminal trinity includes the man with the finger who will never reappear, like the Godot of his friend Beckett.
From 1948 he tries some variations of attitude such as L'Homme qui marche sous la pluie or L'Homme qui chavire. They are as ephemeral as L'Homme au doigt, because they do not deal with the mystery of the solitude of the individual in the group.
In 1948 he positions together on a tray several copies of his walking man, like a child playing with toy soldiers. The Trois Hommes qui marchent are produced in two versions, identified I and II (grand plateau and petit plateau respectively). The three characters approach or move away from each other. Compared with the petit plateau, the grand plateau provides the illusion of an open and non claustrophobic scenery.
Beside Trois hommes qui marchent, La Place, featuring four walking men and a standing woman, is also prepared in two versions. The movements in La Place cease to be incoherent : a group is being formed. These four works provide the most genuine response to the artist's existentialist quest. In 1950 his creativity will be more fanciful, with the grouping of characters of various scales.
The bronzes of such difficult figures with several thin characters were feats by the Alexis Rudier foundry.
Trois Hommes qui marchent I, 72 cm high, was edited in six copies starting in 1950. The number 2/6, made in 1950 with a dark brown patina, was sold for £ 9.4M by Sotheby's on June 25, 2008 and for £ 11.3M by Christie's on February 5, 2020, lot 14.
The 4/6, cast in 1950 with a brown and gold patina, was sold for $ 11.5M by Christie's on November 6, 2008, lot 21.
A bronze cast in 1948 of Trois Hommes qui marchent II, 76 cm high, was sold for £ 10.7M by Sotheby's on June 22, 2011.
2
1951-1952
2022 SOLD for $ 30M by Sotheby's
The bronze 5/6 of Trois hommes qui marchent (grand plateau), 72 cm high, was cast in 1951. Damaged in October 1951 during its custom clearance in the USA. It was sent back to Giacometti who had it recast and hand painted it in 1952 in various tones as specified by its new owner David M. Solinger.
It was sold for $ 30M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2022, lot 8 in the auction of the Solinger collection. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
It was sold for $ 30M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2022, lot 8 in the auction of the Solinger collection. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1951-1952 Le Chariot
2014 SOLD for $ 101M by Sotheby's
Alberto Giacometti had been close to the Surrealists. The theme of the woman on the chariot was inscribed in his mind from 1938. It remained therein for twelve years during which the artist tried a few tests, sometimes with rotating wheels.
In 1948, Alberto populates his universe with his wire-like characters who question the existentialism. Men walk with energy without knowing where they are going. In contrast, women are straight and motionless.
The woman is still an ancient idol whose authority may not be challenged. She brings peace and truth. In Alberto's dream, she is perched on a pedestal placed on the axle of an antique chariot with very high wheels. This is the great paradox of Giacometti: the motionless woman symbolizes the movement because she is worshiped on the chariot.
Alberto is a perfectionist. He waits until 1950 to execute his fantasy. Any detail is important, such as the tightly attached legs. The arms are away from the body in a gesture of glory or freedom, but the angle of the elbows disappears when the sculpture is viewed from front. The work is of medium size, 1.45 m high, because it must not be intimidating or diminutive.
The bronze cast in 1951-1952 is a technical feat by Alexis Rudier company. The number 2/6 was sold for $ 101M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014, lot 25. This is an exceptional specimen by its golden patina that glorifies the subject and also because it has been carefully painted by the artist. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Bernadette Keefe @nxtstop1 Nov 9, 2014
Replying to @GTCost
“@GTCost: RT @BloombergNews: Giacometti’s “Chariot” sells 4 $101M -record Sotheby's art sale: http://bloom.bg/1zwyg9C
In 1948, Alberto populates his universe with his wire-like characters who question the existentialism. Men walk with energy without knowing where they are going. In contrast, women are straight and motionless.
The woman is still an ancient idol whose authority may not be challenged. She brings peace and truth. In Alberto's dream, she is perched on a pedestal placed on the axle of an antique chariot with very high wheels. This is the great paradox of Giacometti: the motionless woman symbolizes the movement because she is worshiped on the chariot.
Alberto is a perfectionist. He waits until 1950 to execute his fantasy. Any detail is important, such as the tightly attached legs. The arms are away from the body in a gesture of glory or freedom, but the angle of the elbows disappears when the sculpture is viewed from front. The work is of medium size, 1.45 m high, because it must not be intimidating or diminutive.
The bronze cast in 1951-1952 is a technical feat by Alexis Rudier company. The number 2/6 was sold for $ 101M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014, lot 25. This is an exceptional specimen by its golden patina that glorifies the subject and also because it has been carefully painted by the artist. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Bernadette Keefe @nxtstop1 Nov 9, 2014
Replying to @GTCost
“@GTCost: RT @BloombergNews: Giacometti’s “Chariot” sells 4 $101M -record Sotheby's art sale: http://bloom.bg/1zwyg9C
- The image depicts "The Chariot" by Alberto Giacometti, a 1950 bronze sculpture sold for $101 million at Sotheby's in 2014, reflecting the artwork's rarity and the booming postwar art market, which saw prices soar due to wealthy collectors and institutional buyers, as noted in a 2014 Artnet study on auction trends.
- Giacometti’s minimalist style, influenced by existentialism post-World War II, uses elongated figures and abstract forms to explore human fragility, a theme resonant with the era’s trauma, supported by art historian Reinhold Hohl’s analysis in his 1994 book "Giacometti: A Biography."
- The record-breaking sale occurred amid a global art market peak, later contrasted by a 2025 Bloomberg report on a sluggish market due to economic uncertainty and tariffs, highlighting the cyclical nature of art investment.
