Head of Diego

Artist Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901–1966)

Dateabout 1961

MediumZinc

Dimensions13.3 cm (5 1/4 in.)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineManuel K. and Ina R. Berman Collection

Terms

Object number2003.77

Label TextDevoted throughout his career to representations of the human figure, Alberto Giacometti sought a form that would embody what he understood about the contradictory nature of perception, something he learned from working directly in front of his model, who frequently was his younger brother Diego (1902-1985). Devoted throughout his career to representations of the human figure, Alberto Giacometti sought a form that would embody what he understood about the contradictory nature of perception, something he learned from working directly in front of his model, who frequently was his younger brother Diego (1902–1985). Diego was a constant in his brother’s life and a collaborator in the studio, with Alberto creating the clay models and Diego assisting with the metal casting. The series of portrait busts and heads of Diego made during the 1950s and 1960s indicates the intimate nature of their relationship as artist and model, too. Giacometti’s familiarity with the nuances of his brother’s features must have inspired the artist’s probing intensity he brought to each portrait, guaranteeing an essential likeness despite significant distortion. Sharp contrasts exist between frontal and profile views. An agitated surface, vigorously modeled in clay by hand and deeply scored by cuts from the modeling knife conveys instability despite being cast as solid metal. Perhaps Giacometti was acknowledging that our comprehension of anyone, no matter how familiar, is constantly subject to change.ProvenanceAcquired in 1961 from Alex Maguy, Paris

On View

On view