ALBERTO GIACOMETTI

(1901-1966)

Jeune femme allongée

Footnotes

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Comité Giacometti. It will be recorded in the online Alberto Giacometti Database as AGD 4358.

Provenance
Galerie Maeght, Paris, no. 3050 (acquired directly from the artist).
Amalia de Schulthess Collection, Santa Monica (possibly acquired from the above in the 1950s).
Thence by descent to the present owners.


"Drawing was the most immediate way of engaging with the flux of changing appearances. The paintings that ensued depict the sitter seated within the confined studio, frequently as an entire figure seen at a distance, on occasion nude, and sometimes in close-up with the upper torso or just the head and shoulders filling the picture space."
- Alberto Giacometti

Rendered with frenzied, swirling lines of graphite, Jeune femme allongée adeptly emphasizes important techniques of Alberto Giacometti's later work. He mastered all media – sculpture, drawing, and painting – but his exploration of the human figure is most prominent in his drawings, which exude the same frenetic energy as his famed sculptures. The artist often declared his adoration for the process of drawing, deeming the mastery of it essential for success in the exploration of any other artistic medium. This drawing is a worthy example of this belief, showcasing several key facets of Giacometti's oeuvre.

Despite the rapid intensity and looseness of Giacometti's famous sketches, the artist was careful and painstaking in his execution. He never considered any of his works fully finished, be they drawings or sculpture, preferring instead to return to his compositions repeatedly in an endeavor to perfect them. In his eyes, his subjects and their surrounding reality were ever-shifting, and as such so were his works – a constant evolution of reality.

Because of this sense of continuous revision, the artist depicted a limited number of models in his work. Members of his immediate circle, who were most available to him and most willing to accompany him on the great lengths he took to perfect his art, became his principal subjects. The resulting effect was that of a deepened inner exploration of his subject, but also a certain dissociation between the representation and the real individual.

One clear example of Giacometti's intensive process is his portrait of Annette Arm, his wife and muse, on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Here, his lines appear similarly energetic to the present work. To finally accomplish this painting, the artist famously revisited his technique and composition after having already exhibited a previous version in Paris in May 1961. Annette noted that at first, Giacometti only intended to edit her nose, but instead went on to entirely rework the expression on her face. Today, she exchanges a wide-eyed stare of surprise with Giacometti's audience – a look that appears frequently in the artist's oeuvre, a motif emblematic of psychological intensity and a fervent shared anxiety with the viewer. While the sitter in the present work, Jeune femme allongée, is unknown, it may also depict Annette, who was the artist's beloved wife and main female model until his death in 1966.

From a young age, the artist felt a sense of freedom in his ability to create art. His family home in Stampa, near Switzerland's south-eastern border with Italy, was a host for creativity, offering Giacometti the intimacy he needed with his subjects. The present work is no different, wonderfully expressing the artist's compulsion to depict the processes of perception, vividly displayed in the loose sketchiness and animated lines in the work and encouraging an appreciation of the artist's ever-shifting view of his subject.

In the 1950s, the artist felt he had exhausted the possibilities inherent in the stick-like, ghostly figures of the late 1940s, and he sought to reclaim a more concrete sense of space. This development is apparent in the present work, in which his sitter lies in an unpretentious, comfortable room in his Stampa residence. The figure reclines in a state of evident relaxation, making direct eye contact with someone just beyond the scope of the image. This frankness in her gaze further amplifies this spatial awareness and familiarity, drawing the visiting viewer into the scene. Though Giacometti's frenzied lines are present, her placement in this setting adds context to her existence and her identity, letting viewers partake in an intimate glimpse at both her day in the life and Giacometti's intensely vibrant perspective of his surroundings.

Jeune femme allongée also bears an interesting history. Many works by Alberto Giacometti that were bought by, shown and exhibited by Galerie Maeght came directly from the artist, as is the case of the present work. The founder of the gallery, Aimé Maeght, and Giacometti shared a true love for art and its meaning beyond the commercial realities of the art market. Their shared appreciation for beauty and appreciation of each other's company would lead to a lifelong friendship, lending works owned by the gallery particular flair and importance: "The great bond between Aimé Maeght and Alberto Giacometti was their shared passion for art. Maeght was the great gallerist who 'despised the art business', Giacometti, the fiercely independent great artist for whom the creative process meant the continuous deepest experience of life...Their first exhibition together, in 1951, was a huge critical success but a commercial failure. Neither was unduly concerned. The two men became firm friends and when Aimé and Margueritte Maeght decided to create a foundation, Alberto helped design the building" (Tate Modern, ibid., p. 59).