Hands Holding the Void (Invisible Object)
- Artist
- Alberto Giacometti, Swiss, 1901–1966
- Date
- 1934–35, cast c.1946–47
- Material
- Bronze
- cast in
- Paris, Île-de-France region, Western Europe, France, Europe
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 210
- Dimensions
- 60 x 12 x 9 1/2 in. (152.4 x 30.5 x 24.1 cm)
weight (aproximate weight of object and pedestal with out counter weight): 160 lb. (72.6 kg) - Credit Line
- Friends Endowment Fund
- Rights
- © Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York, NY
- Object Number
- 217:1966
NOTES
Gazing into the distance with mouth open in wonder, a female figure leans forward while her long, nervous fingers encircle an empty space. Her vulnerable face evokes a sense of psychological alienation. Alberto Giacometti joined the Surrealist movement in the 1920s. Poet André Breton, leader of the Parisian Surrealists, described this work as “an emanation of the desire to love and be loved in quest of the true human object and in all the agony of its quest.”
Provenance
by 1948 -
Bordas Collection, Paris, France [1]
Weintraub Gallery, New York, NY, USA [2]
- 1966
Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland and Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1966 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Galerie Beyeler and Robert Elkon Gallery [3]
Notes:
[1] In "Tentative Catalogue of Early Works," published in 1948, Giacometti's handwritten listing of his early works includes a sketch of "Hands Holding the Void (Invisible Object)" along with a list of the locations of several of the casts, including one annotated with the name Bordas [Giacometti, Alberto. "Tentative Catalogue of Early Works." In "Alberto Giacometti." New York: Pierre Matisse Gallery, 1948]. According to Véronique Wiesinger, Director of the Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, this notation refers to the Museum's cast [email dated February 8, 2006, SLAM document files].
[2] According to Véronique Wiesinger, the Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti provenance for this work includes Weintraub Gallery as an owner preceding Robert Elkon Gallery. See email, note [1]. A letter from Weintraub Gallery indicates that they sold a cast of "Hands Holding the Voice (Invisible Object)" to Robert Elkon [letter from Jacob D. Weintraub to Pierre Bordas, April 9, 1970, copy from Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, SLAM document files]. Presumably this cast was 1/6, 217:1966.
[3] On-approval invoice from Galerie Beyeler, dated October 3, 1966; invoice from Robert Elkon, dated November 12, 1966 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control and Associate Members of the Board of Control of the City Art Museum, November 10, 1966.
Bordas Collection, Paris, France [1]
Weintraub Gallery, New York, NY, USA [2]
- 1966
Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland and Robert Elkon Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1966 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Galerie Beyeler and Robert Elkon Gallery [3]
Notes:
[1] In "Tentative Catalogue of Early Works," published in 1948, Giacometti's handwritten listing of his early works includes a sketch of "Hands Holding the Void (Invisible Object)" along with a list of the locations of several of the casts, including one annotated with the name Bordas [Giacometti, Alberto. "Tentative Catalogue of Early Works." In "Alberto Giacometti." New York: Pierre Matisse Gallery, 1948]. According to Véronique Wiesinger, Director of the Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, this notation refers to the Museum's cast [email dated February 8, 2006, SLAM document files].
[2] According to Véronique Wiesinger, the Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti provenance for this work includes Weintraub Gallery as an owner preceding Robert Elkon Gallery. See email, note [1]. A letter from Weintraub Gallery indicates that they sold a cast of "Hands Holding the Voice (Invisible Object)" to Robert Elkon [letter from Jacob D. Weintraub to Pierre Bordas, April 9, 1970, copy from Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, SLAM document files]. Presumably this cast was 1/6, 217:1966.
[3] On-approval invoice from Galerie Beyeler, dated October 3, 1966; invoice from Robert Elkon, dated November 12, 1966 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control and Associate Members of the Board of Control of the City Art Museum, November 10, 1966.