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Alberto Giacometti
Oct 10, 1901 - Jan 11, 1966 Birthplace:
Borgonovo in Val Bregaglia,
Switzerland
Educated: School of fine arts: Geneva, Switzerland; Académie de la
Grande Chaumière: Montparnasse, France
Residences:
Geneva, Switzerland;
Paris, France
Expertise:
Sculpture, drawing, painting, printmaking
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Alberto
Giacometti attended the School of fine arts in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1922
he moved to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in
Montparnasse under Rodin’s associate, the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle. There,
he was drawn to the Surrealist movement and by 1927 had begun to display his
first surrealist sculptures at the Salon des Tuileries. Before long, he was
seen as one of the leading surrealist sculptors of the day. Living amidst
the creative community of Montparnasse, he began to associate with artists
Joan Miró, Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso. From 1935 to 1940 Giacometti
concentrated his sculpting on the human head, focusing on the person's gaze.
This was followed by a new and unique artistic phase in which his statues
became stretched out, their limbs elongated.
A perfectionist, Alberto Giacometti was obsessed with creating his sculptures
exactly as he visioned through his unique view of reality. Because of his
drive for perfection, they all ended up being carved small, many no larger
than a pack of cigarettes and almost as thin as nails. However, after his
marriage, he was able to make tiny sculptures larger. But the larger that
they grew, the thinner they became. Giacometti said that was the way he
wanted to represent the sensation he felt when he looked at a naked woman.
In 1954 he was commissioned to design a medallion depicting Henri Matisse
and he created numerous masterful drawings of the great painter in the last
months of Matisse's life. In 1962, he was awarded the grand prize for
sculpture at the Venice Biennale, and the award brought with it worldwide
celebrity. Giacometti was one of only a handful of modern artists who have
been equally as talented in all four mediums of sculpture, painting, drawing
and printmaking. Alberto Giacometti died in Chur, Switzerland, the
birthplace of H.R. Giger. Today, a sculpture by Giacometti can sell for more
than $14 million. |
