Mains tenant le vide (Hands Holding the Void)

1934

On view, 3rd floor, Modern and Contemporary Art and Design

This original plaster sculpture is the first known example of a complete representational human figure in Alberto Giacometti's oeuvre. Created during the seven-year period of the artist's association with the Surrealists, the stylized female figure exists in an imaginary space defined by a series of abstract framing devices. The large, detailed eyes recall the visionary figuration of Byzantine mosaics. Poised precariously on the edge of a mystical experience, the figure remains suspended in a state of temporal confinement. Despite this tension, the long, expressive hands emerge from the frame, offering a metaphysical void for the viewer's consideration.

Medium: Plaster
Dimensions: 61 1/2 × 13 1/2 × 11 1/2 in. (156.2 × 34.3 × 29.2 cm)
Credit Line: Anonymous gift
Accession Number: 1950.730
Culture: Swiss
Period: 20th century
Classification: Sculpture
Disclaimer: Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Bibliography

John Finlay, ""Now the Void": Reconsidering Giacometti's "Hands Holding the Void"; Invisible Object," Burlington Magazine 156, no. 1340 (November 2014), 749–56

Martica Sawin, Matta: Five Decades of Painting, exh. cat. (New York: Pace Gallery, 2009), 11, fig. 6

Julien Levy, Memoir of an Art Gallery (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2003), 156–59

John Hollander and Joanna Weber, eds., Words for Images: A Gallery of Poems (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2001), ill

Casimiro Di Crescenzo, ed., Alberto Giacometti: Sculture, Dipinti, Disegni (Florence: Artificio, 1995), 94–95, ill

Object copyright

In Copyright

Additional information

Object/Work type

figures (representations), human figures (visual works)

Technical metadata and APIs

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