(The Kronenhalle Restaurant bar. Designed by Diego Giacometti.)
1902-1985
Diego Giacometti
"DIED. Diego Giacometti, 82, Swiss furniture designer and sculptor; of a heart attack; in Paris. His early artistic life took its direction from his more famous sculptor brother Alberto, for whom he was collaborator, critic and model. In their 40 years together, Diego was responsible for the casting and patinating, or surface finishing, of Alberto's attenuated figures. After his older brother's death in 1966, Diego's creative talent emerged in a menagerie of whimsical animals and birds and in rustic yet beautifully proportioned furniture and lamps that built his reputation as a master in his own right."
Diego Giacometti "Lampes en forme de bougeoir", 1960 Bronze patine brune et verte
Diego Giacometti
"Lampe à l'hibou" (sseconde version), c. 1980
Bronze patine verte et noire
Diego Giacometti (1902-1985) was a
Swiss sculptor and designer, and the younger brother of the sculptor
Alberto Giacometti.
The working relationshiop of Diego with Alberto was so close that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the work of Diego from that of Alberto, 13 months his senior. They shared the same sculpture studio at 46 rue Hippolyte-Maindron in Paris until the ends of their lives and executed the commissions of their cultured clients such as the Maeght and Noailles families.
During World War II Diego Giacometti did his first animal sculptures. Animals regularly adorned his works, such as the Table arbre à la souris (Tree table with mouse) which belonged to the collection of Jean-Paul Binet, an eminent surgeon who was a close friend and patron of Diego Giacometti. His fascination with the animal kingdom was tied to the mythological and dream-like world of his childhood.
