Fondation Giacometti

This chandelier was created in 1954 or before; it appears on photographs of Alberto Giacometti’s studio taken by Denise Colomb in 1954. Created in plaster, it is composed of a main cone-shaped lampshade surrounded by two rings linked by seven rods; four of these rods are capped by small cones. The irregular treatment of the material is characteristic of Alberto Giacometti’s work and gives to the material a vibrant aspect. It is remarkable because of its big dimensions (125 centimetres diameter) that contrast with the fragility of the material. This object comes from the collection of Alice Tériade, widow of Tériade (Estratios Elefteriades, called Tériade, 1897-1983), collector, publisher and friend of Alberto Giacometti. Giacometti designed chandeliers and furniture for Tériade’s Parisian apartment and for his villa in Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat. Three of these chandeliers are variations of the same structural pattern, treated in plaster or bronze: a central lampshade surrounded by two rings capped with cones invariably small, or even figurines. This chandelier was hanging in the Parisian apartment of Tériade. Alberto Giacometti had already created chandeliers for the designer Jean-Michel Frank in the Thirties. After the war, he continued creating decorative arts objects, notably chandeliers; they were mainly commissioned by close friends, and were not published.

No inscription

TERIADE
Alice TERIADE
Sale Artcurial. Briest. Le Fur. Poulain. F. Tajan Paris (France), October 20th, 2007, lot n ° 16

Sale Phillips London London (United Kingdom), April 26th, 2017, lot n ° 215
Private collection

Collection Alice Tériade, Paris : Artcurial. Briest. Le Fur. Poulain. F. Tajan, 2007, lot no. 16, p. 32-35