Beschreibung:

Alberto Giacometti"Masque aux Serpents" Sconce
designed circa 1934patinated bronze13 x 9¼ x 5½ inches (33 x 23.5 x 14 cm)Condition reportFor further information on the condition of this lot please contact Hannah.Poss@sothebys.com ProvenancePrivate Collection, Paris, 1975
Christie's New York, May 13, 1987, lot 206
Acquired from the above by the present ownerLiteratureFrançoise Francisci, Diego Giacometti Catalogue de l'œuvre, vol. I, Paris, 1986, p. 35
Léopold Diego Sanchez, Jean-Michel-Frank, Paris, 1997, cover, pp. 29 and 239
Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, Jean-Michel-Frank, l'étrange luxe du rien, Paris, 2006, pp. 198 and 250Catalogue noteThis lot is offered together with a certificate of authenticity from the Comité Giacometti and is recorded in the Alberto Giacometti Database under number 4476.
"In every work of art, the subject is primordial, whether the artist knows it or not," said Alberto Giacometti "The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.”
Perhaps one of the artist’s most elaborate and visually striking lighting designs, the present “Masque aux Serpents” sconce is an unequivocal homage to the mythological tale of Medusa— the legendary winged female creature with a head of serpents whom Perseus beheaded. Medusa was known for her gaze which supposedly turned all who looked at her to stone, a legend that evidently spoke to artists and sculptors for centuries. The fantastical tale inspired some of the most spectacular works in marble and bronze. While past depictions of the myth are particularly violent—Antonio Canova’s marble sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art or Benvenuto Cellini’s bronze at the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence come to mind—, Alberto Giacometti presents us here with a gentle if not serene interpretation of the ominous creature. Beautifully coated in a brown patina with hints of amber and gold, the bronze surfaces are dominated by sinuous curves and a simplicity of lines and forms that adds to the modernity of the design. Originally created as a sconce, the present version was readapted as a sculpture and elevated on a small presentation stand.
“Masque aux Serpents'' is one of approximately forty light sculptures designed by Alberto Giacometti for Jean-Michel-Frank. The result of an extraordinary collaboration spanning over ten years, the present piece is a superlative example of the type of work that united the two creators—somewhere between sculpture and design. Originally introduced to Frank by Man Ray, Giacometti quickly became one of his closest contributors, starting in 1928 with the creation of the “Ovale'' wall lamp. This followed with the creation of numerous designs, mostly lighting but also mirrors, furniture and objects, all primarily made in plaster or bronze. As seen here, sources of inspiration ranged from abstract geometric shapes to themes and motifs from Greek antiquity or Ancient Egypt, and often decorated with figurative elements such as leaves, faces or animals. Elevated to the status of a sculpture, “Masque aux Serpents'' cannot be seen solely through the lens of an artist collaboration or as a purely utilitarian work—it embodies something far superior, a rare and precious creation reimagining figuration and the classical canon, and one of the artist’s most original and complex works in bronze.