Diego Giacometti

Acquired directly from the artist in 1980

Michel Butor, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1985, p. 116, 131 and 139

Françoise Francisci, Diego Giacometti, Catalogue de l'oeuvre, Paris, 1986, p. 70

Diego Gacometti, Möbel und Objekte aus Bronze, exhibition catalogue, Museum Bellerive, Zürich, 16 June - 4 September, 1988, p. 16

Jacqueline von Sprecher, Diego Giacometti, tritt aus dem Schatten, Zürich, 2007, p. 49 and 106

Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti, Sculpteur de Meubles, Paris, 2018, p. 30 et 178

Giacometti, une famille de créateurs, exhibition catalogue, Fondation Marguerite et Aimé Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence, 3 July - 14 November 2021, p. 258

Commissioned in 1970 by Mrs Henriette Vronsky-Asch, an important patron of Diego Giacometti and a close friend of Alberto Giacometti, this model represents a reinterpretation of the celebrated Pommeaux de Canne armchairs, created in 1963. Wishing to see her astrological sign (the lion) incorporated into an armchair, Madame Vronsky-Asch inspired the sculptor to create an initial version embellished with two lionesses’ heads placed at the ends of the armrests. In the second version, executed around 1975 and represented here, Diego Giacometti further enriched the design by giving the front legs feline paws.

Described by Jean Leymarie as an «artisan-poet,» Diego Giacometti created here a true symbolic portrait of his patron. This deeply personal approach recurs in several works conceived for close collectors, such as those made for Madame Gruber, whose favourite dog’s head appears at each corner of a table, or the pair of low tables featuring the greyhound Bucky, a bowl, the dachshund Lippo, and a kennel, created in memory of two of Hubert de Givenchy’s beloved dogs. Acquired directly from the artist in 1980, the Têtes de Lionnes armchairs presented here still preserve, in the subtle irregularities of the bronze, the delicate traces of the sculptor’s modelling hand. Far removed from any monumental evocation, the lion (although it has symbolised courage and strength since Antiquity) is rendered here with a dreamlike grace. This stylisation recalls the imagery of ancient Egypt, which the artist encountered during his journey there in 1927, notably at the Cairo Museum. Diego Giacometti himself, however, qualified such an interpretation when, in an interview with Patricia de Beauvais published in Beaux Arts Magazine in September 1984, he remarked: “I went to Egypt only once (...) It did not provide me with any particular inspiration, except for my cat.” Poised between intimate portraiture and personal fantasy, this ensemble beautifully illustrates the way Diego Giacometti transformed furniture into a realm of poetry, where function never disappears behind the evocative power of his imagination.

Work authenticated in accordance with the process established by the Diego Giacometti Estate

© ADAGP, Paris, 2026