GM, Gen Art Lovers! ☀️
I’m often asked about Giacometti’s enigmatic sculptures, those skeletal figures that seem unfinished and weird.
Here’s a brief 🧵 to help you understand why they intentionally look that way.
Spoiler: the reason is deeply conceptual.

Alberto Giacometti was born in 1901 into a family of artists and grew up immersed in the art world. 
However, his sculptural language matured in a bleak historical context: a Europe devastated by World War II and marked by the Holocaust. 
So, what do these slender figures mean?

Generative art and Render art. Art professor. Exhibited in N.Y., L.A., London, Hong Kong, Madrid, Athens and Cardiff. Creator of “Catharsis”

These figures seem to hover between existence and disappearance. His sculptures are thin, almost spectral, as if the artist were trying to capture the weight of the collective trauma Europe faced after Auschwitz.

Imagine the desolation after WWII and the horrifying revelations about the atrocities committed in the concentration camps. 
How could humanity behave this way toward others?

This atmosphere of depression and desolation was a far cry from the optimism and prosperity of, say, classical Athens, where sculptures celebrated the beauty and bravery of their heroes and athletes.

It also stood in stark contrast to the confidence of the Renaissance, when humanity was celebrated as the center of the universe, an era palpable in the self-assurance of its sculptures.

Even the fascination that Futurist artists once had with modern society (its machines, speed, and industry) was also long gone.

Now, machines had been created to cruelly destroy human lives, leaving little to be proud of. As philosopher Theodor Adorno famously said, "After Auschwitz, poetry is no longer possible." This phrase perfectly reflects the impossibility of returning to an art that sought beauty, poetry and tenderness.

Giacometti undoubtedly was feeling this same despair regarding what could be represented moving forward, and he conveyed it in his works, which do not aim to beautify but to bear witness. His figures suggest that, although the world is marked by destruction, humanity endures, even in its fragility. His work "The Walking Man"  is a clear example. The figure, stripped of detail and robustness, moves with a resilience that seems almost a declaration: we go on, despite everything.

In 2015, his sculpture "The Pointing Man" sold for an astonishing $141.3 million, making it one of the most expensive sculptures ever auctioned. 
Giacometti leaves us a legacy that transcends art; it touches on philosophy, history, and human resilience. He shows us that even in the darkest times, art can serve as a mirror for our most essential condition. His work remains relevant because it confronts us with ourselves, our fragility, our persistence, our humanity. Giacometti reminds us that, although the world may be marked by pain, it is also a place of beauty and meaning.
Now let me know: What are your thoughts on these figures and their meaning?