Alsdorf Collection, Chicago

Private Collection

Acquired from the above by the late owner in Novembe✱r 1972

Geneva, Galerie Jan Krugier, Le Silence des Autres, 1972, no. 2, illustrated in the catalogue

Geneva, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Art du XXe siècle - Collections Genevoises, 1973, no. 2

Paris, Galerie Claude Bernard, Giacometti, dessins, 1975-76

Chur, Bündner Kunstmuseum, Alberto Giacometti, ein Klassiker der Moderne, Skulpturen, Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Bücher, 1978, no. 72, illustrated in the catalogue

Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Fondation Maeght, Alberto Giacometti, 1978, no. 214, illustrated in the catalogue

Geneva, Musée Rath, Alberto Giacometti, retour à la figuration, 1933-1947, 1986

Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Alberto Giacometti, dibujo-escultura-pintura, 1990-91, no. 140, illustrated in the catalogue

Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Alberto Giacometti, sculptures-peintures-dessins, 1991-92,ꦅ no.𝄹 81, illustrated in the catalogue

Vienna, Kunsthalle, Alberto Giacometti, 1996,&nꦗbsp;no. 109, illustrated in the catalogue

Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz,  Linie, Licht und Schatten. Meisterzeichnungen und Skulpturen der Sammlung Jan und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 1999, no. 169, illustrated in c𒆙olour in the catalogue

Venice, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, The Timeless Eye. Master Drawings from the Jan and Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski Collection,1999, no. 176, illustrated in colour🌱 in the catalogue

Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Miradas sin Tiempo. Dibujos, Pinturas y Esculturas de la Coleccion Jan y Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2000, no. 195, illus🌟trated in colour in the c🦹atalogue

Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Alberto Giacometti. Le dessin, l'œuvre, 2001, no. 86, illustrated in the catalogue

Zurich, Kunsthaus, Alberto Giacometti, 2001, 🐽no. 95, illustra𒀰ted in colour in the catalogue

Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, La Passion du Dessin. Collection Jan et Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2002, no. 171, ꩵillustrated in colour in the catalogue

Vienna, Albertina, Goya bis Picasso. Meisterwerke der Sammlung Jan Krugier und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2005, no. 164, illustraﷺted in colour in ♛the catalogue

Munich, Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Das Ewige Auge - Von Rembrandt bis Picasso. Meisterwerke aus der Sammlung Jan Krugier und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2007, no. 214, illustrate♓d in colour in the catalogue

André du Bouchet, Alberto Giacometti: dessins 1914-1965, Paris, 1969, illustrated p. 6

Reinhold Hohl, Alberto Giacometti, Lausanne, 1971, no. 73, illustrated p. 296

Alain Madeleine-Perdrillat, Seurat, Geneva, 1990, illusꦆtrated p. 98          

Yves Bonnefoy, Alberto Giacometti - Biographie d'une œuvre, Paris, 1991, no. 285, illustrated p. 312

Giorgio Soavi & Peter Knapp, Alberto Giacometti, la ressemblance impossible, Paris, 1991, illustrated pp. 110-111

David Sylvester, Looking at Giacometti, London, 1994, illustrated p. 10

Itzhak Goldberg, 'Alberto Giacometti, La Rétrospective', in Beaux-Arts Collection, May 2001, illustrated in colour p. 39

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, hinged to the mount on the reverse of the upper corners. There are remnants of old tape and glue from a previous mounting along the reverse of the edges. There is a small brown spot, which is an imperfection in the paper, to the right of the figure (visible in the catalogue illustration). There is a supported tear towards the left of the top edge. Apart from some liquid staining and some flattened creases throughout (mainly visible in the catalogue illustration), this work is in good condition. Colours: In comparison to the printed catalogue illustration, the pencil tone is slightly softer in the original.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Femme nue debout, executed in 1946, is a masterful drawing of the preeminent subject of Giacometti’s art. Delineated in a haze of pencil marks and heightened by scratching the surface of the paper, the female nude in the present work exerts a powerful presence. Alongside the walking man, the standing female figure represented the absolute distillation of Giacometti’s existentialist perspective. Discussing the importance of these figures Christian Klemm writes: 'With these weightless elongated figures, Giacometti extended an age-old tradition of imaging man and woman as symbolic representations of the elemental. The work limited to the core of human existence is symptomatic of a post-war era that was seeking out grounds for a new start, however minimal these might be. The lofty verticality of Giacometti’s figures, combined with their exquisite fragility, creates a tension with the base materiality of their composition that works to reflect the human condition caught between dignity, vulnerability, and the ultimate fallibility’ (C. Klemm, Alberto Giacometti (exhibition catalogue), Kunsthaus, Zurich, 2001, p. 150).