Giacometti, << `jah` kuh MEHT ee, >> Alberto (1901-1966), was a Swiss-born sculptor. Much of his work is small and created in bronze. Until 1935, Giacometti was closely associated with the surrealism movement. Works such as The Palace at 4 A.M. (1932-1933) have a dreamlike quality often found in surrealism and deal with the anxieties and aloneness Giacometti saw in modern urban life.
After the end of World War II in 1945, Giacometti concentrated on human figures, to which he tried to give spiritual qualities. These figures are small, thin, and elongated, with rough surfaces and blank, expressionless faces. Whether single figures or in groups, the sculptures are arranged to suggest a sense of loneliness and isolation.
Giacometti was born in Stampa, Switzerland. He moved to Paris in 1922. He was also a painter, graphic artist, and poet.
