Giacometti was one of the outstanding artists of the 20th century. He tried to achieve reality with an approach to rendering distance. He introduced into the art of sculpture a new concept of rendering distance. Massless and weightless, his figures and heads are immediately seen from a specific frontal point of view and therefore perceived as situated in distance and space. The elongated and textured figures are seen as in distance and in an imaginary space. He felt that reality was not dependent on being perceived by someone. Space and time have their origin in the core of each being.
Alberto attended the School of Fine Arts in Geneva. In 1922 he moved to Paris to study under the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle. There he experimented with cubism and surrealism and came to be regarded as one of the leading surrealist sculptors. Later he broke with the Surrealist group in 1935. Between 1936 and 1940, Giacometti concentrated on sculpture of the human head, focusing on the sitter's gaze. His statues became stretched out and limbs elongated. Obsessed with creating his sculptures exactly as he envisaged through his unique view of reality, he often carved until they were as thin as nails and reduced to the size of a pack of cigarettes, much to his consternation. After his marriage to Annette Arm his tiny sculptures became larger, but the larger they grew, the thinner they became. He reworked models over many times, often destroying them or setting them aside to be returned to years later. Giacometti also produced paintings and drawings, mostly portraits and interiors in a mass of lines and a delicacy of light. The figures appear isolated, are severely attenuated, and are the result of continuous reworking. The attenuated forms of Giacometti's figures reflect the view of 20th century modernism and existentialism that modern life is increasingly devoid of meaning and empty. Giacometti created more than three hundred fifty prints. He worked in etching and lithography, mainly depicting people close to him or recording studio views of his own sculptures and paintings. Giacometti's work is displayed in numerous public collections.
References
2. Reinhold Hohl (1971) "Alberto Giacometti", Stuttgart: Gerd Hatje
3. Die Sammlung der Alberto Giacometti-Stiftung (1990), Zürich, Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft
4. Jacques Dupin (1962) "Alberto Giacometti", Paris, Maeght
bronze with patina bronze sculpture engraving plate color lithograph
45.1 cm 167.1 h x 62 w cm 50.8 x 38 cm 68 x 53.3 cm
conceived in 1961
