Diego Giacometti

Younger brother of Alberto Giacometti, Diego Giacometti (1901 - 1985) grew up in Stampa on the family farm where he saw his father, Giovanni Giacometti - representative of post-Impressionism and Swiss Fauvism - making everyday furniture.

It is moreover his father who will awaken the artistic sensitivity of the young boy. Of a solitary nature, Diego shares his childhood with the animals of the village and the farm. This privileged relationship with the animal world will never cease to guide him throughout his life as an artist.

Refractory to studies, Diego Giacometti prefers to pose for his elder brother rather than to go to school and it is after mediocre studies that he leads from 1919 an itinerant life from country to country. He travels in particular to Egypt, where he will be particularly marked by the symbolism of the cat, an animal that will be found in many of his works.

Settled in Paris in 1925, he met his brother Alberto there who studied sculpture with Antoine Bourdelle. The first years are particularly difficult and Diego only finds intermittent jobs in factories and offices. In 1927, Alberto found a small sculptor's studio. From then on, Diego will be his collaborator at all times. In addition to his exceptional know-how and his undeniable manual skill, he also brings his ideas to her. He assists his brother by creating pedestals and displays for his sculptures for him. This is how he turned almost naturally to making furniture.

Diego's creations perfectly illustrate his talent for the correctness of proportions. The architecture of his pieces combines sobriety with functionality while managing to keep a touch of his inexhaustible fantasy through his imaginary bestiary.

Little by little, Diego will emancipate himself and extend his practice of sculpture to other fields than that of his brother's work. He began by honoring private orders from his friends such as Marguerite and Aimé Maeght during the 1960s. Following the death of his brother in 1965, Diego will center his work around animals.

In our coffee table, the owls and frogs echo the animals of the Bregaglia valley of his native Italy. The glass plate refers to a vast expanse of water shared by four frogs at each corner of the table. The dream-evoking and dream-carrying owls are placed on branches connecting the legs of the coffee table.

As Jean Leymarie points out, this coffee table illustrates Diego's ability to " combine the concern for utility with the charm and freshness of the marvellous ."