Giacometti

Walking Man II, 1960
bronze
Alberto Giacometti
Swiss, 1901 - 1966
National Gallery of Art, USA
Detail images here

Giacometti for today. It's hard to pick just one. I always find myself walking by them in museums only to walk right back and around and closer and farther away to really see them. While his sculptures are usually cast in bronze the texture that he creates from his original clay creations is still evident and is one of the many things that makes Giacometti's work stand out. This man is posed as if walking but is more than solidified to his base as the amount of material gathers at his feet. It is as if he figure has been pulled up from the ground in its creation (and may very well have been when drawn from clay.

His figure also look like a 3 dimensional drawing, only with more of the physical aspects of the hand. You can see this also in his drawings and paintings (which I LOVE, falling into them when I am fortunate to come across one in a museum or gallery)

For more on the artist, an online resource for the
2001 exhibition, Alberto Giacometti at MoMA

I also highly recommend reading A Giacometti Portrait, by James Lord. A short book, it highlights the time Lord spent with Giacometti while he was doing his portrait. It delves into the daily work of the artist, and shares his life, philosophy and more. A really great read.




The Artist's Mother
1950, oil on canvas
35 3/8 x 24" Museum of Modern Art