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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374525250
• ISBN13: 9780374525255
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 1.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.6" x 6.0"

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.