DIEGO GIACOMETTI (1902-1985) - FROM THE SUCCESSION OF Mr. AND Mrs. B. Torsade, model created circa [1965], our work realized circa 1976-1978 Sculptural coffee table. The base in shaded brown patinated bronze; the title decoration on the central brace. Glass top. Signed DIEGO, in cursive lettering on each bar of the high leg links and on three bars of the X-brace. With glass: Height: 39.8 cm - Length: 119.8 cm - Width: 72.8 cm Bronze foot alone: Height: 39.8 cm - Length: 117 cm - Width: 78.2 cm (A slight chip on two corners of the top). Important note: This work has been authenticated in accordance with the process established by the Diego Giacometti Estate. Provenance and history : Estate of Mr. and Mrs. B, Île-de-France. Acquired directly from the artist. Mr. and Mrs. B. were introduced to Diego Giacometti by Pierre Josse, to whom they were close friends. Mrs. B., of Belgian origin, was a painter and engraver in her spare time, and had a youthful friendship with the artist Colette de Sadeleer. The latter introduced the Bs to her sculptor uncle Pierre Josse, whose full-length portrait she had painted. Pierre Josse was also a close friend of Alberto and Diego Giacometti; three portraits of Pierre Josse by Alberto from the 1960s are known to exist. Several photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson taken between 1960 and 1965 reveal the friendship between the two men. So it was only natural that Pierre Josse, also a close friend of Mr. and Mrs. B, put them in touch with Diego Giacometti in the mid-1970s. Mr. and Mrs. B were painting and printmaking enthusiasts, and frequented Parisian galleries, acquiring numerous original prints by major Ecole de Paris artists in the 1960s and 1970s (Villon, Estève, Hartung, Bram van Velde, ZaoWou Ki, Vierada Silva and Alechinsky, etc.). The commission for this Torsade coffee table and a Biche, Arbre et Renard console table (à l'affût) was a brilliant addition to the ensemble and the high point of the project. Their son still remembers, even though he was around twelve years old at the time, going with his parents to Diego's workshop on rue Hippolyte Maindron in the 14th arrondissement of Paris to collect these works. Archives : Our coffee table is described on page 3 of an inventory drawn up at the request of Mr. and Mrs. B. to establish insurance values by APPAP on June 29, 1982. Bibliography and related works : - Daniel Marchesseau - Diego Giacometti - Éditions Hermann, Paris, 1986. Another example of the Torsade coffee table is reproduced on page 65. - Collectif - Diego Giacometti - Catalogue de l'œuvre - Éditions Eolia, Paris, 1986. Another example of the Torsade coffee table, square format, reproduced in this work (without pagination); a detail also reproduced on the following double page. - Christian Boutonnet and Rafael Ortiz, preface by Jales Lord 6 Diego Giacometti - Catalogue d'exposition, Galerie L'Arc en seine, Paris, 2003, Les Éditions de l'Amateur, 2003. Another copy of the Torsade coffee table, gold patina, reproduced on double page 67-68. Please note: Resale rights for this work are the responsibility of the purchaser.