Alberto Giacometti, Buste (Tête tranchante) (Diego). Conceived in 1953 and cast by 1954.
Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
Auction of the Week: Rare Masterpieces from the Collection of Harry Frank Guggenheim to Hit the Block
Works come to sale for the first time in nearly seventy years, including a famous bust by Alberto Giacometti of his brother Diego with an estimate of $10-15 million
Harry Frank Guggenheim. Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
Sotheby’s will offer three artworks from the esteemed collection of Harry Frank Guggenheim as part of its Modern Evening sale in New York next week. The works include Alberto Giacometti’s bronze sculpture Buste (Tête tranchante) (Diego) (with an estimate of $10–15 million), Franz Marc’s painting Das Lange Gelbe Pferd (estimate $8–12 million), and Paul Gaugin’s ceramic sculpture La Femme noire ($700,000–$1 million). All proceeds from the sale will benefit the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, an organization founded in 1929 to advance groundbreaking research into the problems of violence, such as war, crime and human aggression.
Franz Marc, Das Lange Gelbe Pferd (1913). Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
The standout lot is Giacometti’s bust of the artist’s brother, acquired by Guggenheim soon after it was cast and lent to the artist’s first-ever museum exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1955. It was in 1914 that Giacometti first starting using his brother as a model for his art. By the 1950s, Diego had inspired many sculptures that resembled both Alberto and Diego, giving them a semi-autobiographical quality. This sculpture is one of the artist’s so-called “knife-blade” heads, which were created between 1953-54. They can be characterised by their thin, vertical faces and elongated profile. Today, they are known as some of the artist’s most important works.
Paul Gauguin, La Femme noire (1889). Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
Acquired by Harry Guggenheim directly nearly 70 years ago, these three works reflect the trailblazing taste of a celebrated patron with an important legacy. The pieces also offer a glimpse into the history of one of America’s most important collecting families.
Throughout his life, Guggenheim was known for his avid philanthropy work, driven by a belief that wealth should be used to advance humanity. “I believe there is a responsibility to use inherited wealth for the progress of man and not for mere self-gratification which I am sure does not lead to a happy life,” Guggenheim once said.
Cover: Alberto Giacometti, Buste (Tête tranchante) (Diego). Conceived in 1953 and cast by 1954.
Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's
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