One of my favorite sculptors is Alberto Giacometti, who is arguably one of the most important artists in the 20thcentury. I saw several of his pieces while studying in Copenhagen and was immediately drawn to their haunting presence. Giacometti was introspective and left us many thoughtful writings in addition to numerous sculptures, paintings, drawings and prints. This particular work, The Walking Man I, stands six feet tall and was created toward the end of his career in 1961. Some have suggested that his work speaks to the modern human condition — an existential crisis marked by increased emptiness and the lack of meaning. An emaciated figure striding forward.
Although this is insightful, I am captivated by Giacometti’s earnest interest in capturing reality. He was quoted once as saying, “I paint and sculpt to get a grip on reality… to protect myself.” Giacometti like many artists of this era was not interested in visual accuracy but rather capturing a more holistic reality. Not one that captured and portrayed, for example, the outside of an apple but rather the entirety of the apple, which includes our knowledge, feelings and experiences. We know an apple has a core with seeds and that it was removed from the branch of a tree. We know what an apple tastes like and perhaps remember putting apples in a pie. The reality of an apple therefore goes far beyond its outward appearance.
The great artists of the 20th century resisted making visual copies and were obsessed with capturing the depth and complex reality of the things that surrounded us. The question is how does an artist capture that reality? Giacometti described it this way: “It is impossible to do a thing the way I see it because the closer I get the more differently I see.” Giacometti may have captured timely aspects of the human condition, but it was accomplished by seeking to honestly express a deep complex reality that transcends mere outward appearances.