Alberto Giacometti: Toward The Ultimate Figure

Exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art, 12 March - 12 June 2022

This exhibition catalogue traces the early and midcareer development of the preeminent Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), examining the emergence of his distinct figural style through around 100 works including a series of walking men, elongated standing women, and numerous busts. Rare paintings and drawings from his formative period show the significance of landscape in Giacometti's work, while also revealing the influence of the postimpressionist painters that surrounded his father, the artist Giovanni Giacometti.

This volume casts new light on his studio practice-amply illustrated with photographs-, his obsessive focus on depicting the human head, his collaborations with poets and writers, and his development of the walking man sculpture, thanks to numerous drawings, many of which have never been shown.