Giacometti: A Biography

by James Lord

Book Overview

The work of one of the towering creative spirits of the century, Alberto Giacometti's visionary sculptures and paintings from a testament to the artist's intriguing life story. From modest beginnings in a Swiss village, Giacometti went on to flourish in the picturesque milieu of prewar Paris and then to achieve international acclaim in the fifties and sixties. Picasso, Balthus, Samuel Beckett, Stravinsky and Sartre have parts in his story, along with...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374520062
• ISBN13: 9780374520069
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

highly informative, but not incisive

Scrupulously researched and intelligently written, Lord's biography of Giacometti is cleary a labor of love. Anyone seeking a compelling and articulate account of this artist's life will not be disappointed. The b & w photographs of Giacometti's family, intimates, and major works are well-chosen. Yet the book is not without its problems. The author's prose stylings can seem somewhat oblique and hi-falutin; on occasion his weakness for facile psychoanalysis of his subject nearly undermines the entire project. For all the book's detail, it's curiously difficult to get a sense for how this artist viewed himself in the world. Did Giacometti consider himself a sophisticate? a bohemian? an artisan? an iconoclast? a failure? This is a polite, somewhat aloof biography of a passionate man. Lord ably describes the evolution of this artist's process and work, and places it in clear historical context. Yet readers seeking a more incisive appraisal of Giacometti's aesthetic achievement might do better to turn to works by David Sylvester or Yves Bonnefoy ... Still, this is an accomplished, considered, well-crafted, and intelligent biography.

Getting In Touch With Giacometti

When I started with this biography I knew little of Alberto Giacometti. To me he was a sculptor of tall lanky figures. Mr. Lord's book gave me a complete look at the man as artist/sculptor, man of genius and flawed individual. It points out the power of absolute focus on a personal goal. Anyone wanting to know of the artist in a personal way will enjoy this biography. The reading of the book was enjoyable albeit a few times getting too wordy with descriptions of motives for Mr. Giacometti. If I would flaw the book however it would be for a lack of illustrations of the artist's work. There were some pictures of the work but with such a complete biography it would have been nice to have a more complete coverage of the artist works, drawings, paintings and sculpture.

Without Question, the best bio of an artist I've read

Alberto Giacometti, a true genius, was a touchstone for the leading lights of the first half of the 20th century in paris -- from Picasso to Beckett. Lord's book explores his art, his relationships and his pursuit of what cannot be expressed with power and grace.