Alberto Giacometti’s emotionally charged 1955 bronze bust, Grande tête mince (Grande tête de Diego), is set to headline Sotheby’s Modern Art Evening Sale this May with a commanding estimate exceeding $70 million. Uniquely hand-painted by the artist and steeped in personal significance, the work is a rare cast that merges formal radicalism with profound intimacy. Its reemergence marks not only a landmark auction moment but a powerful reflection on art, legacy, and the resilience of the modern market.
A Star Lot with Emotional Weight
This May, the art world’s gaze turns to New York, where Sotheby’s will unveil one of the most anticipated lots of the year: Grande tête mince (Grande tête de Diego), a 1955 bronze bust by the renowned Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti. With an estimate exceeding $70 million, the work is not only the centerpiece of Sotheby’s Modern Art Evening Sale on May 13, but also a powerful symbol of how singular vision and sculptural austerity can transcend decades.
Measuring just over two feet tall, the bust may appear unassuming to the untrained eye, but in its sharp planes and haunting expression lies the full force of Giacometti’s existential philosophy. It is a piece that speaks not only to the artist’s formal innovation, but to an intimate personal history. The subject, Diego Giacometti—Alberto’s younger brother—was more than a muse; he was a confidant, collaborator, and the sculptor’s most frequent model. This particular cast is unique among the six produced, as it bears the artist’s own hand-painted surface—a textural richness that enhances its rarity and emotional depth.
From Venice to New York: A Storied Provenance
The work has a distinguished provenance. It was exhibited at the 1956 Venice Biennale and remained in the collection of the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul de Vence for nearly two decades before being acquired in 1980 by real estate magnate Sheldon Solow. It now comes to market from the Soloviev Foundation, the nonprofit founded by Solow’s son, Stefan Soloviev, following his father’s passing in 2020. The bust’s emergence from this storied private collection marks a major moment in the current auction season, particularly in light of the relative scarcity of blue-chip consignments over the past year.
A Critical Moment for the Market
The timing of the sale is crucial. After two consecutive years of declining totals across global auction houses, and with broader economic uncertainty influencing collector behavior, the upcoming spring sales are viewed by analysts as a critical barometer for market confidence. “This work is more than a masterpiece—it’s a test case,” said Simon Shaw, Sotheby’s senior advisor for Impressionist and Modern Art. “We’re not just selling a sculpture. We’re reintroducing a cultural icon, one with historic gravitas and contemporary relevance.”
Indeed, Giacometti’s market has remained resilient even amid volatility. In 2015, his Pointing Man achieved $141.3 million at auction, setting a record for the most expensive sculpture ever sold. His Le Nez reached $78.4 million in 2021. And while Grande tête mince has seen previous versions sell for $50 million and $53 million in 2013 and 2010 respectively, this particular cast—with its painted surface and pristine condition—could surpass both precedents, positioning it among the artist’s top-tier results.
Existential Minimalism, Cast in Bronze
The deeper allure of Giacometti, however, lies not just in numbers, but in the emotional resonance of his work. His figures, often gaunt and spectral, distill human presence into its barest essence. The elongated faces, pinched features, and worn surfaces convey a sense of fragility—of a body and mind tested by memory, time, and loss. In Grande tête mince, that existential vocabulary is concentrated in the features of someone he knew better than anyone. “There’s a profound meditative quality to this bust,” noted Shaw. “It’s as if time is suspended within the bronze.”
A Rare Opportunity for Collectors
For collectors, the opportunity to acquire such a work is vanishingly rare. Most casts reside in institutional collections, including the Fondation Giacometti in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The painted cast coming to Sotheby’s stands alone in its tactile complexity and layered history, a tangible link between two brothers and a pivotal era in modern art.
On View and Under the Spotlight
The bust will be on public view at Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries from May 2 through the evening of the sale, drawing curators, collectors, and aesthetes from around the world. Its unveiling coincides with a broader uptick in interest around mid-century European sculpture, particularly as collectors seek museum-quality works with both market pedigree and emotional gravity.
Whether Grande tête mince exceeds expectations or simply meets them, it will undoubtedly reaffirm Giacometti’s singular place in the modern canon—and, for one fortunate buyer, offer a lasting encounter with one of the 20th century’s most poetic and powerful artistic voices.
Written By: Lydia Kelly
Published: 24th April 2025