The Invisible Object (Hands Holding the Void) c. 1934 - 1935

Alberto Giacometti made this bronze sculpture, "The Invisible Object (Hands Holding the Void)," and well, isn't that just a fabulous title? It’s all about the hands, really. They're placed just so, cradling this empty space, suggesting something precious and unseen. The patina on the bronze, it's got this warm, almost skin-like quality, but it's also rough, aged. The figure itself is elongated, stylized, almost flattened, but there’s a real tension between the flatness and the three-dimensionality, between the figure and the chair, or cage, or whatever it is! Look at the face, those almond-shaped eyes, almost blank, and the way the hands seem to hover. I think of Henry Moore, who was interested in the interplay between mass and void, and whose work had a similar interest in surrealism and the abstracted figure. I love that art can be a container for our projections, our fears, and desires, and always leaves room for a little mystery.