Alberto GIACOMETTI Osselet" floor lamp - circa 1936 Bronze with shaded brown-green patina Numbered on the inside of one of the legs "AG/ 31". H. 148 cm Bronze with brown green patina, numbered on the inside of one of the feet H. 58.26 in. Provenance: Philippe Dennery Collection To the present owner by inheritance Bibliography: L. P. Guigues, "Magie de la Lumière", Art et Industrie, April 1946, p. 34 (another copy) M. Butor, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1985, p. 141 (another copy) C. Boutonnet and R. Ortiz, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 2003, p.39, reproduced in colour on p.41 (another copy) P-Martin-Vivier, Jean-Michel Frank, l'étrange luxe du rien, Paris, 2006, p.347 (another copy) Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, L'Atelier d'Alberto Giacometti - Collection de la Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, October 2007 - February 2008, no. 278, reproduced in black and white in the exhibition catalogue, p. 409 (another copy) Giacometti: une famille de créateurs, exhibition catalogue, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence, July - November 2021, p. 192 (another copy) On the subject of the decorative arts in Alberto Giacometti's work, Thierry Pautot of the Alberto and Annette Giacometti Foundation writes: "In a letter to his gallery owner Pierre Matisse in 1948, Giacometti recalls the support of his brother and the importance he attached to the decorative arts: 'I can only make objects because Diego works very well and takes care of everything for the casting, etc., but objects interest me only slightly less than sculpture, and at a certain point the two touch". From 1929 onwards, in parallel with his work as a sculptor, Alberto Giacometti would create decorative pieces until the early 1950s, mainly in the field of lighting, first for the decorator Jean-Michel Frank until 1941, and then for the Compagnie des arts français directed by Jacques Adnet. Alberto Giacometti created almost a hundred models: floor lamps, bedside lamps, table lamps, wall lamps, hanging lamps, chandeliers, vases, goblet lamps, etc. and, more rarely, for his friends Tériade, Aimé Maeght and Louis Broder, a few pieces of furniture such as consoles, pedestal tables, mantels, mirrors, andirons and door knobs. The collaboration between Alberto and Diego Giacometti on these decorative pieces was essential and ongoing. These "utilitarian objects", as Alberto Giacometti likes to say, are exceptional, handcrafted items. Four lights by the Giacometti brothers have found a natural home in Philippe Dennery's home: a "star" floor lamp, a "figure" floor lamp and a "jack of all trades" floor lamp, created in the 1930s by Alberto, and a "candlestick-shaped lamp" created in the 1960s by Diego. The shapes of these four pieces echo the ancient Egyptian and Oriental objects that inspired Philippe Dennery. Thierry Pautot points out that "the pieces created by Giacometti evoke excavated objects, as if exhumed by the artist from imaginary civilisations". The filiform graphics of the Zao Wou-Ki in the Dennery collection, for example, respond to the bronze shafts of Giacometti's lampposts through their presence in space. It's no coincidence that Alberto's creations are here in symbiosis with Zao's large composition, the two artists having known each other in the 1950s as neighbours on rue du Moulin-Vert: "He [Giacometti] often came to my studio. We were neighbours. He liked the figurative part of my painting and later often reproached me for having become abstract", Zao Wou-Ki wrote in his memoir "Self-portrait". Finally, we also think of Etruscan art with the woman's head on the "figure" floor lamp, African objects with the "jack of all trades" floor lamp, and a surrealist vision with the "star" floor lamp, like a form of synthesis of the arts across time and cultures in the intimate space of the collection. Regarding the decorative arts in Alberto Giacometti's work, Thierry Pautot from the Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti writes: "In a letter to his gallerist Pierre Matisse in 1948, Giacometti recalled his brother's support and the importance he attached to the decorative arts: 'I can only make objects because Diego works so well and takes care of everything for the casting, etc., but I am only slightly less interested in the objects than in sculpture, and at a certain point, the two meet.'" Starting in 1929 and continuing until the early 1950s, alongside his work as a sculptor, Alberto Giacometti created decorative pieces, primarily in the field of lighting. At first, he worked for the decorator Jean-Michel Frank until 1941, then later for the Compagnie des Arts Français, directed by Jacques Adnet. Close to a hundred models were thus created by Alberto Giacometti: floor lamps, bedside lamps, table lamps, wall sconces, pendant lights, chandeliers, vases, cup-lamps, etc. More rarely, for friends like Tériade, Aimé Maeght, or Louis Broder, he also created furniture pieces such as consoles, side tables, fireplace mantels, mirrors, fire dogs, and door handles. The collaboration between Alberto and Diego Giacometti in the creation of these decorative pieces was essential and constant. These "utilitarian objects," as Alberto Giacometti liked to call them, are exceptional items, crafted by hand. Four light fixtures by the Giacometti brothers thus naturally found their place in the home of Philippe Dennery: a floor lamp model "étoile" (star), a floor lamp model "figure," and a floor lamp model "osselet" (small bone), all created by Alberto in the 1930s, and a "candleholder-shaped lamp," created by Diego in the 1960s. These four pieces, through the forms that inspired them, echo the ancient, Egyptian, and Oriental objects with which Philippe Dennery surrounded himself. Thierry Pautot emphasizes: "the pieces created by Giacometti evoke excavated artifacts, as if unearthed by the artist from imaginary civilizations." The slender, linear graphic style of Zao Wou-Ki's painting in the Dennery collection thus resonates with the bronze shafts of Giacometti's floor lamps through their presence in space. It is no coincidence that Alberto's creations harmonize so well with Zao's large composition, as the two artists knew each other in the 1950s when they were neighbors on rue du Moulin-Vert: "He [Giacometti] often came to my studio. We were neighbors. He liked the figurative aspect of my painting and later often reproached me for becoming abstract," Zao Wou-Ki wrote in his memoirs Self-Portrait. Finally, one also thinks of Etruscan art with the woman's head on the "figure" floor lamp, of African objects with the "osselet" floor lamp, and of a surrealist vision with the "étoile" floor lamp-like a form of synthesis of the arts across time and cultures within the intimate space of the collection. This work is referenced by the Alberto and Annette Giacometti Foundation in its online database, the Alberto Giacometti Database (AGD), under number 4717. A notice of inclusion from the Giacometti Committee will be given to the buyer. Alberto GIACOMETTI