When it comes to the greatest sculptor of the 20th century, the Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) is well deserved. His works have not only been achieving great results in auctions but also have exhibited at international museums in recent years. Compared with the art masters of the same period, such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Max Ernst, it seemed that Giacometti kept in a low profile among the general public. However, his figurative sculptures reshaped the faith of human beings after the World War 2. He brought the firm beliefs and hopes to those who suffered from trauma.
Being taught by his father, a Post-Impressionist painter, Giacometti had a strong art base since he was a child. Not until he traveled to Italy and Paris after he learned classic art, cubism, and primitive art, his work would not break new ground. During his time in Paris, his work gradually changed for around by liberal atmosphere.
In 1930, André Breton invited Giacometti to join the surrealism club after he saw Giacometti's sculpture, "Suspended Ball." Soon, Giacometti made friends with several surrealism artists, like Max Ernst and Joan Miro. With the strong support of the club, Giacometti was able to explore the psychoanalysis theory of Sigmund Freud. In this period, Giacometti's works were mysterious and fantastic, like "Woman With Her Throat Cut", "The Palace at 4 a.m" In the late 1930s, Giacometti believed that returning to the human body and nature would enrich the context of his work. Then he was expelled from the surrealist group because his concept was not qualified to surrealism. Later, he met the existentialist scholars Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir when he tried to escape from the war.
After leaving Surrealism group, Giacometti focused on the development of human sculptures, featuring match-sized, rough-textured sculptures. He created a sense of space. He came out with this idea when he painted city streets. The idea of developing a pedestrian sketch is that a thin sculpture is like a pattern of pedestrians from a distance. After the World War II, it was filled with a desperate and lonely atmosphere in Paris. Giacometti's human sculptures began tall and thin, thus expressing the helplessness of human which was reflected in the anxiety of the society at that time. His sculptures did not bow his head, bringing a glimmer of hope to the lost. Giacometti showed his influence of existentialism on sculptures, deeply observed the relationship between objects and the phenomenal world, and re-emphasized the existence value of "people" with figurative sculptures. His works greatly encouraged the social atmosphere at that time.
Between 1948 and 1950, Giacometti became famous. At the time, he held two exhibitions at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York, which aroused public attention. The New York media and existentialist thinker Saudi Arabia wrote articles for Giacometti, praising his contribution to existentialism. Then, major art galleries purchased works from him, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Grenoble in France.
In 1962, Giacometti won the highest award in the sculpture of the Venice Biennale. In 1964, he won the Ancient International Painting Award at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and in the same year, he founded his personal foundation. His important public collections can be seen at the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Hessian Museum, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
"Giacometti", hosted by the Guggenheim Museum in New York, will last until mid-September. The exhibition features more than 175 works in collaboration with the Giacometti Foundation. And the Institut Giacometti in Paris was officially opened in late June. The Institut restored the former studio of Giacometti, and also placed a small number of works and materials to provide visitors with appreciation.
Alberto Giacometti
Exhibition Date: From now on 12 September 2018
Venue: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Institut Giacometti
Venue: 5, Rue Victor Schoelcher, 75014 Paris
Figure 1: Alberto Giacometti, Dog (Le Chien), 1951, Bronze, 44.2 x 96.8 x 15.7 cm. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966 © 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York Photo: Cathy Carver, courtesy Hirshhorn Museum, and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Figure 2 left top: Alberto Giacometti painting in his Paris studio, 1958, Photo: Ernst Scheidegger © 2018 Stiftung Ernst Scheidegger– Archiv, Zürich
Figure 2 left bottom: Installation view: Giacometti, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, June 8–September 12, 2018. Photo: David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 2018
Figure 2 right: Alberto Giacometti, Standing Nude on a Cubic Base (Nu debout sur socle cubique), 1953, Painted plaster, 43.5 x 11.7 x 11.8 cm. Fondation Giacometti, Paris © 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York
