Giacometti ‘Toward the Ultimate Figure’ at the Seattle Art Museum

I was able to see the Giacometti show recently and I wanted to share my thoughts. The majority of the show centered around slender walking or standing figures cast in bronze ranging in scale as large as 6-7 feet tall. Giacometti devoted a large amount of his working life to this theme. There was also documentation, photos, and a video which helped to illustrate his creative processes and talked about his life as an artist. Previously, I had only seen images of his work in publications and thought his drawings had a curious, unique, and slightly disturbing element to them. I was hoping to see more drawings and sketches, however, I found that I was drawn to his sculptures that were more realistic, such as some of the smaller head sculptures. There was also a wonderful, colorful watercolor painting/sketch of a mountain landscape, inspired by the post-impressionist style of his father Giovanni. The color was a welcome sight and was I believe the only color piece in the show.

I was also interested in learning more about the artist and his life. Giacometti was influenced by the cubism and surrealist movement early on in his career and explored the idea of existentialism in his work. He was Swiss-born, but later settled in France and his subject matter, such as the slender figure sculptures, dealt with “vulnerability, fragility, resilience, and strength,” which resonated with the public especially after World War II (seattleartmuseum.org, Guggenheim.org).

All in all, I’ve always wanted to see his work in-person, and I’m glad I was able to. It’s also rare to see the work of such a famous artist in the Pacific Northwest.

I’ll be posting another blog soon! Stay tuned and feel free to explore the rest of my website, thank you. Note: Images included in this post may or may not have been displayed in the show.

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