Alberto Giacometti – At the peak of his price

Born in October 1901 in Stampa, Switzerland, Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) moved to Paris in 1922, where he came into contact with the cubists and discovered the formal perfection of traditional African art. From 1930, he was rubbing shoulders with the surrealist movement, met Masson and Breton, read Freud and Bataille, and created symbolic surrealist sculptures exuding violent eroticism. But the death of his father in 1933 was to mark a turning point and the beginnings of a new artistic direction. Giacometti grew to enjoy solitude and returned to portraits, for which he was rewarded with expulsion from the surrealist movement. He embarked on a ten-year search, destroying most of the works he had created and many of his scale drawings, though some were preserved in a matchbox. After the war, Giacometti developed a unique language that found expression in thread-like, pitted silhouettes; these brought him, during his lifetime, an international recognition that has never waned.

Paris, 2002: an historic auction
The Alberto GIACOMETTI collectors who attended the Paris auction of 35 bronzes from the artist’s estate (De Ricqlès) on 28 September 2002 will never forget that year. For one single sale to contain such a wide choice of works was exceptional, as only 25 of the artist’s sculptures normally sell in an average year. Although all the works were posthumous casts (automatically less popular than works cast during the artist’s lifetime), buyers’ enthusiasm was not dampened in the least.La cage, première version (8 copies) fetched the highest price at EUR 1.6 million, double its high estimate, while another 15 works went under the hammer for more than EUR 100,000.Collectors fought bitterly over even the smallest of works: the cheapest, Petite tête d’Ottilia measuring 5.1 cm, went for EUR 22,000, while a 10.8 cm-high Figurine avec bras fetched EUR 62,000. Fierce bidding waged over Petit buste de Silvio (11.2 x 18.5 x 12.5 cm), which sold for EUR 130,000 against an estimate of EUR 30,000-40,000.This historic auction helped Giacometti’s turnover to rise almost 350% against 2001. Although the artist’s market was bereft of major works in 2003 and 2004, the buoyant mood returned in 2005.

New York, 2007: new record
Christie’s New York sale on 9 May has confirmed the rise in Giacometti’s price index. L’Homme qui chavire, a bronze cast in 1950, smashed the previous record set in 2000 at the same auction house by Grande femme debout I, which sold for USD 13 million. At a hammer price of USD 16.5 million, the iconic L’Homme qui chavire nearly doubled its high estimate of USD 8.5 million. The very same work fetched USD 2.4 million at Sotheby’s New York in 1998!

Sculpture rules
The market is dominated by sculptures, which account for 89% of turnover on only 24% of transactions. In light of the excellent results of recent times, small-format works (less than 10 cm) are also selling for very good prices. In 2004, one lucky collector walked away with the auction’s smallest bronze for less than EUR 10,000: a Tête de femme measuring 3.8 cm, which sold for GBP 6,500 at Christie’s South Kensington. In 2006, sculptures measuring less than 10 cm were changing hands for EUR 75,000-85,000!In addition to sculpting, Giacometti also explored the human form in oil and pencil. Most of these works are portraits of his family, often the face of Diego GIACOMETTI, but a few are still lifes. Between 2005 and 2006, no fewer than five canvases broke the million-dollar mark!
For collectors with less ample funds, the market offers a steady supply of drawings and plenty of prints (56% of transactions are multiple editions). These days a pencil drawing goes for EUR 10,000-30,000. In 2006, 74 prints were sold, including still lifes averaging EUR 2,000-3,000, while female busts and emaciated silhouettes generally go for EUR 5,000-10,000, if the works are signed.Working with his brother Diego, Giacometti also made interior accessories and lighting fixtures; although considered to be sculptures, these are more affordable than his iconic silhouettes. The majority of lamps and standard lamps sell for EUR 30,000-100,000, depending on their size and year of casting, although a Lampadaire measuring almost 1.5 metres (circa 1933) fetched FFR 3.5 million (the equivalent of EUR 533,572) on 3 April 2001 at Le Mouel, a record for a lighting sculpture by Giacometti.