Vente aux enchères en direct 20648The Spirit of Paris: An Important Private Collection of 1920s and 1930s Design

Lot 8

ALBERTO GIACOMETTI (1901-1966)

'Bilboquet' Table Lamp, circa 1937

Fermé6 June 2022

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USD 302,400

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ALBERTO GIACOMETTI (1901-1966)
'Bilboquet' Table Lamp, circa 1937
terracotta, fabric shade
13 in. (33 cm) high, 5 7⁄8 in. (15 cm) diameter (excluding shade)

Sonia Delaunay, by repute
Lars Vain Hole, Paris
Artcurial, Paris, 23 May 2017, lot 86
Acquired from the above by the present owner

The present table lamp is one of the four known examples of the ‘Bilboquet’ model, created circa 1937.

Alberto Giacometti enjoyed drawing his creations from everyday objects, transforming them into abstract yet utilitarian sculptures. Bilboquet, which can be translated as ‘cup-and-ball’, is an outdated French game of skill. Reduced to a combination of two simple shapes, it is reinterpreted here into a modern artefact. The rawness of the shapes and the refined profile confer an anonymity to the forms. The use of terracotta is in that matter anything but anecdotic. The artist worked with this material very rarely, thus its use should be considered as a statement, as an ambition of returning to a primary material. Used since the Palaeolithic era, terracotta is commonly associated with Greek antiquity and its earthenware vessels, which constituted part of Giacometti’s repertoire of forms. Its use is also consistent with Jean-Michel Frank’s aesthetic and attention to contrasts between luxurious and common materials, between delicacy and coarseness. The texture and natural patina of terracotta enable the present lamp to come alive and conform to the space it occupies.

The presence of this rare model in Sonia Delaunay’s apartment, 16 rue Saint Simon in Paris, does not come as a surprise. A Ukrainian-born artist, she founded along with her husband, Robert Delaunay, Orphism, an avant-garde movement sometimes called Orphic Cubism. Both artists’ creations and research focused on pure abstraction through an unprecedented approach to colour. They developed theories such as simultaneous contrast and optical intensity, which they applied to their work by designing geometrical and often circular shapes with a precise and reflexive combination of colours. The resonance between their work and the present lamp is hardly deniable, and confirms the timelessness of the ‘Bilboquet’ model.

Note du spécialiste

This lot is registered under number AGD 3683 in the Alberto Giacometti Database.

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ALBERTO GIACOMETTI (1901-1966)

'Bilboquet' Table Lamp, circa 1937

Considering selling a similar item?

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ALBERTO GIACOMETTI (1901-1966)

'Bilboquet' Table Lamp, circa 1937

Considering selling a similar item?

Plus d'informations

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