In my first post of the Giacometti sculptures at the Temple of Dendur, I mentioned how, every time I entered this gallery at the Getty Center, I was stunned by the presence of one of his figures so striking, up against a white wall. The other thing is, that this sculpture is nearly nine feet tall! So you are actually looking up at it when you stand in front of it. I thought I would take the time to show this "Standing Woman 1" in more detail so that you could appreciate how it is made. Please click on each image to see it larger.
So this is a medium view and you can begin to see how little dabs of clay were put together to form the rough structure of this woman. When the clay figure was finished, a mold was put around it and then molten bronze was poured into the mold, to form this bronze figure.
And here is even more datail from a closer view. So here is what is wonderful - I looked up this photo in my collection and then went to the Getty Center website to to look up the information. Along with all that, there is a wonderful description by one of the Getty curators. So I hope it will offer some insights if I reproduce just part of the description.
"Nearly nine feet tall, this larger-than-life, extremely slender figure towers over the viewer. Despite her emaciated frame, she commands the surrounding space. Her rail-thin arms appear almost fused to her torso, hightening a palpable sense of empty space around the figure. The relatrively large base emphasizes her fragility. The deeply kneaded, distressed bronze surface suggests a morbid, decomposing form."
OK but I find I have a problem with that. I have never had a feeling when seeing these different Giacometti statues of woman that they were decomposing figures at all! Never a hint of that so I disagree with the curator on this note.
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