Personnage dans l'Atelier. Figure in the Studio by Alberto Giacometti, 1901-1966

Alberto Giacometti, 1901-1966
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Personnage dans l'Atelier. Figure in the Studio

Original lithograph in black ink. 1954. Signed in pencil. Numbered in pencil from the edition of 30 impressions only (plus c.5 proofs). Drawn at the studio of Mourlot. Published by Galerie Maeght, Paris 1954. Very rare.
Provenance: Frank Perls Collection.
Ref: Lust - Giacometti 'The Complete Prints' no 8.

Extremely fine rich dark impression. On white/pale cream wove Arches paper. Superb original condition; not restored. Full margins. Sheet: 25 1/2 x 20 1/2ins. Image overall: 21 5/8 x 14 1/4ins (550x362mm).

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Personnage dans l?Atelier is one of the group of lithographs which Giacometti drew at the Mourlot Studio in 1954. The first major group of lithographs in his oeuvre they include some of his most powerful and important works in that graphic medium. Only printed in editions of 30 impressions the lithographs of this period are extremely rarely found on the market.

Personnage dans l?Atelier is a study of sculptures and maquettes in Giacometti?s studio - the tall thin pared-down shapes of the foreground figure and the emphatic linearity of the bronzes and work benches beyond form a rhythmic pattern of lines and planes, and it was this quality which attracted Giacometti to make such drawings, both in pencil or chalk and in the print medium. The grouping of the forms adds additional emphasis to his desire to reduce his figures, for example, to essential vertical and horizontal lines - planes and space rather than the superficial qualities of flesh or character. This reduction does not lessen their presence but heightens it.

During the 1950?s, in the decade following the War, Giacometti?s drawing, whether in pen and ink, pencil, lithographic crayon or etching needle, had an intensity and a drive which is visually inescapable. It is this same force which is expressed in the rare lithographs of the early 1950?s, as here.