Detail of Woman of Venice by Giacometti in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2008

Woman of Venice, 1956
Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901–1966)
Painted bronze; H. 47 7/8 in. (121.6 cm)
Signed and numbered (on the base, at left): Alberto Giacometti 1/6
Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998 (1999.363.25)

Early in 1956, in preparation for exhibitions of his work at the Venice Biennale and the Kunsthalle in Bern, Giacometti produced a large group of plaster sculptures of female figures. Ten of these were shown in Venice and five in Bern. Of the fifteen, it appears that only nine were later cast in bronze. They became known as the "Women of Venice," regardless of whether the plaster version had been exhibited in Venice or in Bern. The thin, gaunt bronzes are all between forty-one and fifty-two inches high, but they seem much taller. Supported on stiltlike legs held tightly together, the figures stand motionless. All have tiny heads and enormous feet, which anchor their extremely emaciated, concave bodies on plinths of varying thicknesses. The figures look as if they have withstood centuries of rough weather, which has left their surfaces crusty and eroded.

This Woman of Venice is the only one of the nine bronzes that was painted. It is a matte beige color. The figure's hair, drawn back severely into a bun, renders the sculpture even more austere, despite the painted blue eyes and red mouth.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/recent_acquisitions/1999/c...