Alberto Giacometti
- Introduction
- Alberto Giacometti (UK: , US: , Italian: [alˈbɛrto dʒakoˈmetti]; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family and work on his art. Giacometti was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced by artistic styles such as Cubism and Surrealism. Philosophical questions about the human condition, as well as existential and phenomenological debates played a significant role in his work. Around 1935 he gave up on his Surrealistic influences in order to pursue a more deepened analysis of figurative compositions. Giacometti wrote texts for periodicals and exhibition catalogues and recorded his thoughts and memories in notebooks and diaries. His critical nature led to self-doubt about his own work and his self-perceived inability to do justice to his own artistic vision. His insecurities nevertheless remained a powerful motivating artistic force throughout his entire life.Between 1938 and 1944 Giacometti's sculptures had a maximum height of seven centimeters (2.75 inches). Their small size reflected the actual distance between the artist's position and his model. In this context he self-critically stated: "But wanting to create from memory what I had seen, to my terror the sculptures became smaller and smaller". After World War II, Giacometti created his most famous sculptures: his extremely tall and slender figurines. These sculptures were subject to his individual viewing experience—between an imaginary yet real, a tangible yet inaccessible space.In Giacometti's whole body of work, his painting constitutes only a small part. After 1957, however, his figurative paintings were equally as present as his sculptures. His almost monochromatic paintings of his late work do not refer to any other artistic styles of modernity.
- Wikidata
- Q157194
- Introduction
- Giacometti was a Swiss artist who is best known for his lanky sculptures of solitary figures. At a young age it became apparent he was extremely adept in the fine arts. Encouragement from his father, Giovanni and his godfather, Cuno Amiet (both painters) lead him to pursue an artistic career. Between 1922 and 1925, Giacometti studied at the Académie de la Grande-Chaumiére in Paris. His brother Diego was a furniture designer as well as Giacometti's model and studio assistant; his brother Bruno was an architect.
- Nationality
- Swiss
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Genre Artist, Portraitist, Painter, Sculptor
- Names
- Alberto Giacometti, Alberṭo Gʼaḳomeṭi
- Ulan
- 500118871
Exhibitions
-
Degree Zero: Drawing at Midcentury
Through Jun 5
MoMA
-
522: Responding to War
Ongoing
MoMA
Collection gallery
-
517: Surrealist Objects
Ongoing
MoMA
Collection gallery
-
Soldier, Spectre, Shaman: The Figure and the Second
World War Oct 24, 2015–Apr 3, 2016
MoMA
-
Painting and Sculpture Changes 2013
Jan 1–Dec 31, 2013
MoMA
-
Alberto Giacometti has
111 exhibitionsonline.
-
Alberto Giacometti Man Reading a Book 1923
-
Alberto Giacometti Spoon Woman 1926-27 (cast 1976)
-
Alberto Giacometti The Couple 1927 (cast late 1929 or early 1930)
-
Alberto Giacometti Woman 1928
-
Alberto Giacometti Gazing Head 1928-29
-
Alberto Giacometti Gazing Head 1928-29
-
Alberto Giacometti Disagreeable Object 1931
-
Alberto Giacometti The Palace at 4 a.m. 1932
-
Alberto Giacometti Woman with Her Throat Cut 1932 (cast 1949)
-
Alberto Giacometti Study for The Palace at 4 a.m. 1932
-
Alberto Giacometti Cubist Head 1933
-
Alberto Giacometti No More Play 1933
-
Alberto Giacometti Hands Holding the Void (Invisible Object) 1934 (cast c. 1954-55)
-
Alberto Giacometti Head-Skull 1933-34
-
Jean (Hans) Arp, Alexander Calder, Giorgio de Chirico, Hans Erni, Max Ernst, Justino Fernández, Alberto Giacometti, Julio González, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, Jean Hélion, Vasily Kandinsky, Fernand Léger, Jacques Lipchitz, Alberto Magnelli, Joan Miró, Ben Nicholson, Amédée Ozenfant, Pablo Picasso, Kurt Seligmann, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Joaquín Torres-García, Gérard Vulliamy, Ossip Zadkine, Various Artists 23 Gravures 1930–35, published 1935
-
Alberto Giacometti Plate (folio 17) from 23 Gravures 1935
-
Alberto Giacometti Hands Holding a Void 1934
-
Alberto Giacometti Apple on the Sideboard 1937
-
Alberto Giacometti Figure, I c. 1945
-
Alberto Giacometti Figure, II c. 1945
-
Alberto Giacometti Figure, III c. 1945
-
Alberto Giacometti Figure, IV c. 1945
-
Alberto Giacometti Figure, V c. 1945
-
Alberto Giacometti Figure, VI c. 1945
-
Alberto Giacometti Georges Bataille 1947
-
Alberto Giacometti Georges Bataille 1947
-
Alberto Giacometti Man Pointing 1947
-
Alberto Giacometti Head of a Man on a Rod 1947
-
Alberto Giacometti Tall Figure, Half-Size 1947
-
Alberto Giacometti City Square 1948
-
Alberto Giacometti The Studio (Two Pieces of Sculpture) 1948
-
Alberto Giacometti Portrait of a Man 1948
-
Alberto Giacometti Standing Woman 1948 (cast 1949)
-
Alberto Giacometti Tristan Tzara 1949
-
Jean (Hans) Arp, Camille Bryen, Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Oscar Domínguez, Serge (Comte Serge Jastrebzoff) Férat, Alberto Giacometti, Albert Gleizes, Raoul Hausmann, Henri Laurens, Fernand Léger, Alberto Magnelli, André Masson, Henri Matisse, Jean Metzinger, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Léopold Survage, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Edgard Tytgat, Jacques Villon, Various Artists Poésie de mots inconnus 1949
-
Alberto Giacometti Couple Facing Each Other (In-text plate, folio 19) from Poésie de mots inconnus 1949
-
Alberto Giacometti The City Square 1949
-
Alberto Giacometti Portrait of Annette 1949
-
Alberto Giacometti Standing Figure 1949
-
Alberto Giacometti Untitled 1949
-
Alberto Giacometti Untitled 1949
-
Alberto Giacometti Walking Quickly under the Rain c. 1948 (cast 1949)
-
Alberto Giacometti The Chariot 1950
-
Alberto Giacometti Characters in the Studio II (Personnages dans l'atelier II) 1950
-
Alberto Giacometti Characters in the Studio I (Personnages dans l'atelier I) 1950
-
Alberto Giacometti Loeb: Regards sur la peinture (1950)
-
Alberto Giacometti Loeb: Regards sur la peinture (1950)
-
Alberto Giacometti The Artist's Mother 1950
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
All requests to license audio or video footage produced by MoMA should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills or motion picture footage from films in MoMA’s Film Collection cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For licensing motion picture film footage it is advised to apply directly to the copyright holders. For access to motion picture film stills please contact the Film Study Center. More information is also available about the film collection and the Circulating Film and Video Library.
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].