ALBERTO GIACOMETTI
1901-1966, SwitzerlandThe painter Alberto Giacometti was born in Switzerland, in the canton of the Graubünden. Elder son of the Fauvist painter Giovanni Giacometti and also brother of the sculptor Diego Giacometti and the architect Bruno Giacometti. He studied in the School of Fine Arts of Geneva then he settles down in Paris in 1922.
Pupil of Antoine Bourdelle, he discovers Greek statues, African art and Cubism. In 1930, he creates the first object with a symbolic functioning, the Suspended ball. Exposing diverse works beside those of Joan Miró and Jean Arp, Alberto Giacometti is officially integrated into the surrealist movement in 1931.
In 1935, his research on the human head and its mysteries are excluding him from surrealism, although he remains close to the group.
He pursues the production of human silhouettes, sharing his studio with his brother, Diego, who produces animal sculptures. In 1947, he exhibits his piece called Man who walks in New York at the gallery of Pierre Matisse who will show, in 1948, the artist’s first post-war personal exhibition.
Major master of the modern sculpture, he obtains the Carnegie prize in 1961, the Grand Prix of sculpture of the Biennial event of Venice in 1962, the Guggenheim prize in 1964 and also the international Grand Prix of 1965. He dies in 1966.
Courtesy Bailly Gallery
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