Femme égorgée [Woman with her Throat Cut]
About this artwork
This drawing relates to a bronze sculpture of the same name, which is also in the collection of the Gallery of Modern Art. One of the main differences between the drawing and the sculpture is the aggressive presence of the splintered stake which pins the woman’s body to the ground. As in the sculpture, a nick is clearly visible in the windpipe of the figure as it gasps for breath, horribly contorted. Despite the gruesome tone of the drawing, it was first reproduced in the middle of an article about music in the Surrealist periodical ‘Minotaure’. The drawing was previously owned by both Edward James and Gabrielle Keiller, two important patrons of Surrealism.
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title:Femme égorgée [Woman with her Throat Cut]
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accession number:GMA 3982
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materials:Pen and ink on paper
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date created:About 1932
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measurements:31.60 x 24.50 cm
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credit line:Bequeathed by Gabrielle Keiller 1995
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copyright:© The Estate of Alberto Giacometti (Fondation Annette et Alberto Giacometti, Paris and ADAGP, Paris), licensed in the UK by ACS and DACS, London 2018.
Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti
Swiss-born sculptor Giacometti studied art in Geneva, moving to Paris in 1922 where he experimented with Cubism and became interested in primitive sculpture. He worked with the surrealist group until the mid-1930s, producing strange objects suggestive of cruelty, sex and dreams. After that time, he broke away dramatically from the Surrealists…