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Lot 367
§ Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901-1966) Têtes (recto); Nu debout (verso); a double-sided sketch signed and dated lower right "Alberto Giacometti 1947" pencil on wove paper 44.40 x 28.70cm (17 x 11in)Provenance: By repute part of the collection of the artist Elsa Vaudrey by 1955; From the collection of the late Eila Grahame of Claverhouse, sold to benefit the Art FundLiterature: The Alberto Giacometti Database, No. AGD 3759Other Notes: The present drawing encapsulates two of the three most important and recurring themes that dominated Giacometti’s art - (the standing female figure, the bust and the walking man). Giacometti - son of a notable post-impressionist painter - explored these motifs in endless variations and groupings across all mediums; in sculpture as well as in painting and drawing. These activities were inextricably linked throughout his artistic practice. He drew inspiration from his graphic works and would often draw the sculptures in his studio, making quick sketches in his notebooks of the things that surrounded him or caught his eye. He never made formal preparatory drawings for his sculptures - instead he regarded drawing as central to his art, a means of both exploring new concepts and finding solutions to problems. As he himself revealingly said in an interview with Georges Charbonnier in 1951 - “what I believe, is that whether it be a question of sculpture or of painting, it is in fact only drawing that counts.” Therefore, his drawings can be seen as visual reflections of his sculptural processes.Following his return to Paris in 1945, (having spent the remainder of the war years in Geneva), Giacometti began experimenting with the representation of the human figure in space and this marked the blossoming of his mature style. Driven by the desire to convey a sense of distance from the spectator, his drawings played a crucial role in his exploration of figures situated in space. He felt that his figures were only true to his vision of reality when portrayed as elongated and slender, as that is how they appeared to him at a distance. He thus gradually stretched out and attenuated his figures until they became as thin as nails. He began to focus primarily on single, elongated figures - and from this experimentation in drawing originated the tall and emaciated silhouette with roughly defined outlines which came to epitomise this new style after 1947. Giacometti claimed that the end result was a reflection of what he saw when he looked at a woman from a great distance across the street. The actual image of a person’s appearance glimpsed from afar was merely “a blur” devoid of any recognisable features.1947 marked a major watershed in Giacometti’s career. The present drawing embodies the archetype of the tall, weightless figures for which he is best known. The sketches on the recto of this sheet epitomise the series of heads and busts that constitute a large part of Giacometti’s oeuvre. The theme of the human head preoccupied him from the very beginning. He declared that it was only the head of his models that interested him, since the body merely served as an ‘antenna’. Hence, he set out to concentrate his studies on the head and the sitter’s gaze, in particular, as he believed that one’s life lay within the eyes. Since the intensity of the eye contact could only be conveyed by looking full face at a person, he focused on representing his heads from the front, as in the present work. The faces thus directly confront the beholder while the busts are only vaguely summed up by a few lines. The rendering of the faces with a flurry of coursing lines particularly evokes the rough and heavily worked surfaces of his sculptures. This side of the drawing appears to incorporate features from a number of Giacometti’s painted and sculpted portrayals of his family and friends - his brother Diego being one of his most frequent models.In the late 1940s, Giacometti began to develop his remarkable series of standing female figures. The nude on the verso of the present drawing stands serenely in a stylised interior, isolated within a space specifically demarcated by a frame. Giacometti frequently used this framing devi to fix the figure firmly in space and intensify its impact. The indistinct outline and the rigid stance of the figure instantly recall the stylisation of his standing female sculptures. Posed frontally with her limbs pressed tightly together and imbued with a sense of lofty gravity, the model directly engages the viewer and commands a powerful presence. An interesting parallel could be drawn between this sketch with its distinctive, choppy hairstyle and Giacometti’s sculpture, ‘Femme Leoni’. He conceived the original plaster cast in the same year and later named the sculpture after Peggy Guggenheim’s Venetian palace - Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, (as she was the first to receive the bronze cast). Both portrayals of the lone standing female figure are early, iconic examples of Giacometti’s post-war style. The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Comité Giacometti and is registered in the Alberto Giacometti database.Condition report: Pencil sketches on a double-sided sheet of paper.Signed and dated lower right "Alberto Giacometti 1947" in pencil to recto. Also signed and dated to verso lower right "Alberto 1947" (signature partially faded). A blindstamp to the bottom left corner of an "S" with an arrow running through it.Recto: Very slight creasing in the upper area above the heads - this is only visible when holding the sheet against the light. Minor scattered spotting mostly along the margins. Two larger foxing spots - approximately 1 cm (0.4in) in width - one by the head on the far right and the other by the left-hand edge, left of the figure's shoulders. Old sellotape marks along the bottom edge. A small red stain by the shoulders of the figure on the far right. A crease running horizontally - 6 cm (2.4in) long - below the figure's shoulders far right.Verso: Scattered foxing, particularly below the figure, with few smaller foxing spots also to either side. A larger foxing spot right of the figure, approximately 1cm (0.4in) in diameter. Old sellotape marks along the bottom edge of the sheet. A slight crease top right, running horizontally about 5 cm (2in) from the top edge. A small scuff to the paper left of the figure's head - 1 cm (0.4in) in width - approximately 2.5 cm (1in) from the left margin.Condition report by a paper conservator:Condition: the artist has used a reasonably good quality paper. The paper is slightly discoloured overall as a result of long term exposure to light. The very left edge is slightly more discoloured. The sheet is currently loose but was mounted in the past. The mount attachment was via strips of Sellotape and the discoloured adhesive remains along one edge (both on the recto and verso) and on the two opposite corners. At some point the glass in the double-sided frame broke, causing a typical glass cut on the verso. The verso is foxed and the recto less so. This is as a result of the microclimate when the sheet was mounted and framed. A brown stain on the verso is starting to show on the recto. The other prominent brown mark on the recto is a glue spot. Many of the minor marks appear to be traces of watercolour and other artist’s media. These and the slight surface dirt were probably acquired in the artist’s studio and so should be left. The pin hole in the top edge probably also dates from the same time. The artist’s technique has caused the paper to stretch locally where most heavily worked. This is of course part of the artwork and should not be flattened during treatment. Similarly the blind stamp of a capital S pierced by an arrow should not be flattened during treatment.
Lot 154
A George VI silver model of a bull Elephant by Omar Ramsden, London, 1937, modelled standing, stepping forwards on one front leg, his trunk coiled, engraved OMAR RAMSDEN ME FECIT to underside of one foot, together with a bronze version of the same, also signed to underside of one foot, and two framed series' of pencil studies for the model, one with Omar Ramsden printed crest to top right angle, the group accompanied by a letter of provenance from Ramsden's widow, Annie, written to the vendor's late mother on 31st August 1939, just twenty-two days after his death and the day before the declaration of World War II 7.50 x 11cm (3 x 4in) Provenance: Commissioned by the vendor's grandfather as a gift to his daughter on her 21st birthday, thence by decent Other Notes: Transcript of letter reads: 31st August 1939 My dear Christine, These drawings represent the labour of my dear husband at the instigation of your father for his loved daughter on her 21st birthday. The time, thought and love expended on them will give but a little idea of the interest taken in giving you a perfect model. When you receive this you will be of an age to appreciate all the thought and foresight given by your dear father. This brief note is written under circumstances in which it is difficult to concentrate viz. the death of my partner and the International situation. Yet in case anything happens, I want to send you my good wishes for your happiness in life and to almost envy you in the love bestowed on you by your dear parents. God bless you in the truest wish of Annie Ramsden
Lot 446
SIR ARTHUR JOHN EVANS FRS FRENG, 1851-1941. A photograph signed by "The Great Prehistoric Archaeologist" Sir Arthur Evans, funeral order of service, British Academy obituary by J.L. Myres, other letters, painting album and other items relating to the Evans family, a carved marble fragment, possibly Greek, c.4th century B.C., 140mm x 165mm, and a pottery vessel with a label, 75mm wide. Sir Arthur John Evans FRS FREng was an English archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. He is most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete.
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