Yves Saint Laurent Pierre Bergé - Christie's

In 1929, Alberto Giacometti exhibited works in
plaster, including his Tête qui regarde and Figure, at
the prestigious gallery of Jeanne Bucher. This
exhibition was to prove pivotal in his career as it
introduced the artist to the Surrealist movement
and to Jean-Michel Frank who had become an early
follower through his two childhood friends, the
writer René Crevel and leading Surrealist editor
Jean-Pierre Quint. Frank is credited with drawing
Giacometti’s work to the attention of the celebrated
art patrons Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles
who were always eager to discover new talents and
eventually bought the panel Tête qui regarde. In
1930, Giacometti’s brother Diego joined him and
settled in Paris, becoming his close collaborator.
They started to create decorative objects in plaster
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Alberto Giacometti
and in bronze, mainly for Jean-Michel Frank,
assuming a leading and prestigious position
among the creators showcased in the boutique that
Frank opened in 1935 on the rue du Faubourg
Saint-Honoré.
Alberto Giacometti was surely the artist who best
understood Jean-Michel Frank’s particular
sensibility and needs, his creations becoming
integral to the decorator’s interiors, contributing to
his concept of ‘modest luxury’. His plaster objects
and lights show his interest in ancient civilisations
and his pursuit of their original forms and designs
creates timeless, silent and mysterious objects with
a strong archeological feeling; the willful
irregularity in their making reveals deliberate traces
of the human hand. Giacometti generally used
white plaster, respecting the Frank dictum of
‘understatement’, and works in tinted plaster, such
as the pure and delicate blue tinted coupé of around
1935 presented here are exceedingly rare. Alberto
Giacometti also created a number of models in
bronze for Jean-Michel Frank, among them the
classic floor lamp, Tête de femme, of around 1933–35,
in the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre
Bergé. While this iconic light design serves a
practical function, it shares with Giacometti’s
sculpture his core preoccupation, the challenge as
an artist to achieve the expressive representation of
the human figure.
ALBERTO GIACOMETTI (1901–1966)
For Jean-Michel Frank (1895–1941). Coupé Ovale, designed circa 1935, blue patinated plaster,
8 1 ⁄2 in. (21.5 cm.) high, 14 in. (35.5 cm.) long, 11 5 ⁄8 in. (29.5 cm.) wide. Estimate: 340,000–60,000
opposite page: ALBERTO GIACOMETTI (1901–1966)
For Jean-Michel Frank (1895–1941). Figure, floor lamp, designed circa 1933–34, dark green patinated bronze,
60 1 ⁄2 in. (153.5 cm.) high. Estimate: 380,000–120,000
S.G.