Diego Giacometti

Autruche

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Description/

The animal world is, for Diego Giacometti, a source of artistic resources in which he can find harmony and tenderness. This sculpture of an ostrich is a perfect example of his love and admiration for animals.

L’Autruche was first designed for his friend, Dr. Jean Paul Binet who had acquired several ostrich eggs. Binet asked Marc Chagall, Joan Miro and Diego Giacometti to decorate them. While Chagall and Miro painted directly on the objects, Giacometti recreated the egg the ostrich itself, with its long and thin neck and legs.

The shape he gave to the bird, coming from his endless imagination, is very modern and sophisticated. The light structure of the animal emphasizes the movement suggested by the left leg slightly rising from the bronze base. Diego used his manual deftness and creative ability to produce a sculpture that became one of his most famous masterpieces.

Patinated bronze and ostrich egg.

Diego Giacometti

designer

Diego Giacometti was a Swiss designer and sculptor known as the younger brother of and collaborator with the famed artist Alberto Giacometti. Diego often portrayed animals in bronze with the aesthetic of ancient sculptures or primitive drawings, while Alberto used him as his most frequent model, asking his brother to sit literally thousands of times to create his iconic busts and sculptures. Born on November 15, 1902 in Borgonova, Switzerland in a small farming village, his father was the painter Giovanni Giacometti, who encouraged all three of his sons to become artists. Diego and his brother Alberto shared a studio in Paris and made work that is sometimes indistinguishable from one another. He died July 15, 1985 in Paris.