Alberto Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti | Sculptor and Painter

10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966

Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922 he lived and worked mainly in Paris.

Giacometti was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced by Cubism and Surrealism. Philosophical questions about the human condition, as well as existential and phenomenology (study of the structures of experience and consciousness) played significant roles in his work. About 1935 he gave up on his Surrealist influences to pursue a deepened analysis of figurative compositions.

Alberto Giacometti wrote texts for periodicals and exhibition catalogues and recorded his thoughts and memories in notebooks and diaries. Unfortunately, his critical nature led to self-doubt about his own work and his self-perceived inability to do justice to his own artistic vision.