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Portrait of Elvezia Michel-Baldini (Nee Stampa)
painting

Giacometti, Alberto
Europe, France (?)
1949

1952.277

oil paint
74.3 x 38.8 cm

Seated Woman 1949

Alberto Giacometti 1901-1966

Oil on canvas

Swiss-born Giacometti lived most of his life in Paris
where he was famous for his sculptures
of elongated figures.

In the 1940s he began to paint regularly
making near monochrome works,
which are more like drawings with paint.

The artist worked at his images over and over again
Each time he looked away from his subject
his perception had changed when he looked back.
The dense net of lines which resulted
gives the sense that the figure is trapped.

In 1986 the artist's son, Bruno, identified the sitter.
She was Elevezia Michel-Baldini.
The Gallery acquired the work as 'The Artist's Mother'.

Presented by the Contemporary Art Society 1952.277