The Forest (Composition with Seven Figures and a Head)

Alberto Giacometti

1950 · Painted bronze · Modern and Contemporary Art

The artist recalled that the arrangement of figures in this work was arrived at almost by accident. He placed some figures and heads on the floor at random. Later, he "realized that they formed two groups which seemed to correspond to what I was looking for.” Giacometti’s title refers to the final effect, but the inspiration came from elsewhere. The walking men and male busts in his work usually reflect the artist or his brother, Diego. Standing women, more often than not, embody an archetypal female goddess, whom he modeled on the prostitutes he frequented. When Pierre Matisse showed Giacometti’s work at his gallery in 1949, the show created a sensation and immediately established his reputation in New York. The Steinbergs acquired this work out of the next show, held in November 1950.

Artist

Alberto Giacometti

Date

1950

Medium

Painted bronze

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006