.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This striking pair of bronze ‘star’ andirons is emblematic of Diego Giacometti’s ability to capture natural forms and translate them into elegant and dynamic sculptural objects. He is able to combine a simple silhouette with sculptural detail by adorning each eight-pointed star with textural ridges to emphasize the ‘radiating’ nature of these celestial bodies. Andirons are essentially practical objects, used to support logs as they burn on a fire, but Giacometti adds another dimension to these utilitarian functions. He imbues them with an ethereal nature and, given their intended purpose, the star motif seems a particularly appropriate motif, as glowing in the warm light of the fire they cast a star-shaped shadow across the room.
The star is a highly emotive symbol, a harbinger of guidance, enlightenment and spirituality. Consequently it has been a motif adopted by many artists from the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry (actually thought to be a representation of Halley’s Comet), to Vincent van Gogh’s magical La Nuit étoilée (Starry Night) (1888, Musée d'Orsay, Paris).
Together with Alberto, the Giacometti brothers were responsible for some of the most evocative and enigmatic sculptural forms of the twentieth-century. While his older brother concentrated on his iconic Standing Woman and Walking Man (works in which Diego also played an important role), Diego’s creative contribution came to the fore in his elegant furniture designs. Diego began making decorative objects as early as the 1930s, but World War II and his brother’s burgeoning career forced him to focus his attention elsewhere. Diego worked directly with his brother in the studio, making the aerial framework for his brother’s silhouettes, molding the plaster, and applying the patinas to the finished bronzes. Like his brother, Diego was a perfectionist and spent hours achieving the tactile surfaces for which they became known.
Diego Giacometti’s work occupies that special place that celebrates both form and function. As critic François Baudot points out this is difficult to achieve successfully, “The balance between sensitivity and skill, between free sculpture and fine craftsmanship, the sense of décor and the taste for the functional, were exceptionally rare in the 20th century” (F. Baudot, Diego Giacometti, New York, 2001, p.17). Giacometti’s successful assimilation of the these two has resulted in works unlike any other in the canon of twentieth-century art and design.
The star is a highly emotive symbol, a harbinger of guidance, enlightenment and spirituality. Consequently it has been a motif adopted by many artists from the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry (actually thought to be a representation of Halley’s Comet), to Vincent van Gogh’s magical La Nuit étoilée (Starry Night) (1888, Musée d'Orsay, Paris).
Together with Alberto, the Giacometti brothers were responsible for some of the most evocative and enigmatic sculptural forms of the twentieth-century. While his older brother concentrated on his iconic Standing Woman and Walking Man (works in which Diego also played an important role), Diego’s creative contribution came to the fore in his elegant furniture designs. Diego began making decorative objects as early as the 1930s, but World War II and his brother’s burgeoning career forced him to focus his attention elsewhere. Diego worked directly with his brother in the studio, making the aerial framework for his brother’s silhouettes, molding the plaster, and applying the patinas to the finished bronzes. Like his brother, Diego was a perfectionist and spent hours achieving the tactile surfaces for which they became known.
Diego Giacometti’s work occupies that special place that celebrates both form and function. As critic François Baudot points out this is difficult to achieve successfully, “The balance between sensitivity and skill, between free sculpture and fine craftsmanship, the sense of décor and the taste for the functional, were exceptionally rare in the 20th century” (F. Baudot, Diego Giacometti, New York, 2001, p.17). Giacometti’s successful assimilation of the these two has resulted in works unlike any other in the canon of twentieth-century art and design.