Alberto Giacometti - Grande tête mince 1955

Alberto Giacometti - Grande tête mince 1955

Grande tête mince 1955
67cm bronze with dark brown patina
Sold for: USD 53,3 million
Auction house: Christie's, New York
Sale date: 4 May 2010
Seller: Sidney F. Brody
Buyer: Private collection

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Grande tête mince, translated as "Large thin head", has alternatively been known as Grande tête ("Large head"), Grande tête tranchante ("Large sharp head"), and Grande tête de Diego ("Large head of Diego"). The bronze sculpture is modelled on Giacometti or his brother Diego and stands at 25 1/2 inch (65 cm), making it one of the largest of his works. On the front it is signed and numbered "Alberto Giacometti 3/6" and the foundry mark "Susse Fondeur" is inscribed on the back. The sculpture is one of a mid-1950s series male busts by Giacometti, who began the piece in 1954 and cast it in early 1955.
The dimensions of the work are unusual, distorting the proportions to make the head tall and thin:
When viewed from different vantage points, Large Head of Diego seems to be two distinct heads. From the front the head is narrow; the effect is like looking straight on at a knife edge. From the side the profile is full-bodied and dramatically silhouetted, completely contradicting the frontal view.
—Valerie Fletcher, Alberto Giacometti: 1901-1966 p.180