GENERAL DESCRIPTION
"I feel the wonder of a small figure walking in space."
—Alberto Giacometti
Three attenuated figures in close proximity stride purposefully in different directions. The void between the figures suggests many interpretations, including the isolation of man, a busy urban square where people pass each other anonymously, or the silent realm of dreams and sleepwalking. Alberto Giacometti said that he sculpted people as they actually looked to him. Giacometti created these forms in wax before they were cast into bronze, and we can still see the lively imprint of the artist's fingers as he pushed and pulled the pliable material. The texture causes the edges of the figures to dissolve just as the images of people do when seen from a distance.
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, DMA Label copy, 2009.
NOTES
Created 1948-1949
Checked Piction
TMS done (had @Courtney do it because I do not have access to Contemporary in TMS)
After initially creating works under the influence of primitive art, cubism, and surrealism, in 1935 Giacometti shifted to an almost exclusive preoccupation with the human figure that endured throughout his life. Through the figure, he sought to convey his perceptions of the world and the reality of human existence, a theme enriched in the postwar years by existentialist philosophy. It was during these years that Giacometti developed his mature style of figure sculptures that often stand alone or are separated from one another in groups, suggesting comparison with existentialism’s emphasis on the isolation of individual experience.
Three Men Walking is an early example of Giacometti’s group compositions and reveals the artist’s powerful vision of the human body moving through space. Fragile yet dramatic in stature, the attenuated figures confront the viewer as powerful symbols of alienation and anxiety. The directness and simplicity of their handling seem to derive from Giacometti’s admiration for primitive art, while their haunting presence reflects his own surrealist phase of expressing irrational themes. Giacometti created these figures by repeatedly building, destroying, and rebuilding them from wet plaster, later casting them in bronze. Ravaged and emaciated, they may symbolize the terrors of World War II and its aftermath, although their elongated forms seem to suggest a spirit of survival.
— Shirley Reece-Hughes, "Three Men Walking", in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Suzanne Kotz (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 134.
Three Men Walking is a virtually complete dematerialization of the male nude figure. The stick-like bodies of three men striding in an undefined space barely resemble actual human beings. Their angular figures are highly elongated, without any careful indication of bodily forms, though they pulse with energy. Where Arp used abstraction to express the sensuous beauty of humanity, Giacometti models abstract figures to suggest the ambiguous isolation of modern man.
Excerpt from
DMA thematic label copy, Ancient Mediterranean and European Art, nd, Education files.
Three Men Walking is an early example of Alberto Giacometti’s group compositions and reveals the artist’s powerful vision of the human body moving through space. Ravaged and emaciated, the figures may symbolize the terrors of World War II and its aftermath, although their elongated forms seem to suggest a spirit of survival. After initially creating works under the influence of primitive art, cubism, and surrealism, in 1935 Giacometti shifted to an almost exclusive preoccupation with the human figure, which endured throughout the rest of his life.
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 257.
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Bronze
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Guggenheim, New York~Learn more about the artist and his work.
- Tate, London~Check out this list of eight interesting facts about Giacometti from the Tate.
- Fondation-Giacometti, Paris~Learn more about Alberto Giacometti from the Giacometti Institute.
- YouTube~Watch this video about Giacometti from the Tate, London.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- Alberto Giacometti once said “In the street the people astound me and interest me more than any sculpture or painting. Every second the people stream together and go apart, then they approach each other to get closer to one another….They unceasingly form and reform living compositions in unbelievable complexity.”
- Giacometti often made his models stand about nine feet away from him so that he could observe their entire form at once.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1975.86.FA
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
"I feel the wonder of a small figure walking in space."
—Alberto Giacometti
Three attenuated figures in close proximity stride purposefully in different directions. The void between the figures suggests many interpretations, including the isolation of man, a busy urban square where people pass each other anonymously, or the silent realm of dreams and sleepwalking. Alberto Giacometti said that he sculpted people as they actually looked to him. Giacometti created these forms in wax before they were cast into bronze, and we can still see the lively imprint of the artist's fingers as he pushed and pulled the pliable material. The texture causes the edges of the figures to dissolve just as the images of people do when seen from a distance.
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, DMA Label copy, 2009.
Fun Facts
- Alberto Giacometti once said “In the street the people astound me and interest me more than any sculpture or painting. Every second the people stream together and go apart, then they approach each other to get closer to one another….They unceasingly form and reform living compositions in unbelievable complexity.”
- Giacometti often made his models stand about nine feet away from him so that he could observe their entire form at once.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Guggenheim, New York~Learn more about the artist and his work.
- Tate, London~Check out this list of eight interesting facts about Giacometti from the Tate.
- Fondation-Giacometti, Paris~Learn more about Alberto Giacometti from the Giacometti Institute.
- YouTube~Watch this video about Giacometti from the Tate, London.
Notes
Created 1948-1949
Checked Piction
TMS done (had @Courtney do it because I do not have access to Contemporary in TMS)
After initially creating works under the influence of primitive art, cubism, and surrealism, in 1935 Giacometti shifted to an almost exclusive preoccupation with the human figure that endured throughout his life. Through the figure, he sought to convey his perceptions of the world and the reality of human existence, a theme enriched in the postwar years by existentialist philosophy. It was during these years that Giacometti developed his mature style of figure sculptures that often stand alone or are separated from one another in groups, suggesting comparison with existentialism’s emphasis on the isolation of individual experience.
Three Men Walking is an early example of Giacometti’s group compositions and reveals the artist’s powerful vision of the human body moving through space. Fragile yet dramatic in stature, the attenuated figures confront the viewer as powerful symbols of alienation and anxiety. The directness and simplicity of their handling seem to derive from Giacometti’s admiration for primitive art, while their haunting presence reflects his own surrealist phase of expressing irrational themes. Giacometti created these figures by repeatedly building, destroying, and rebuilding them from wet plaster, later casting them in bronze. Ravaged and emaciated, they may symbolize the terrors of World War II and its aftermath, although their elongated forms seem to suggest a spirit of survival.
— Shirley Reece-Hughes, "Three Men Walking", in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Suzanne Kotz (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 134.
Three Men Walking is a virtually complete dematerialization of the male nude figure. The stick-like bodies of three men striding in an undefined space barely resemble actual human beings. Their angular figures are highly elongated, without any careful indication of bodily forms, though they pulse with energy. Where Arp used abstraction to express the sensuous beauty of humanity, Giacometti models abstract figures to suggest the ambiguous isolation of modern man.
Excerpt from
DMA thematic label copy, Ancient Mediterranean and European Art, nd, Education files.
Three Men Walking is an early example of Alberto Giacometti’s group compositions and reveals the artist’s powerful vision of the human body moving through space. Ravaged and emaciated, the figures may symbolize the terrors of World War II and its aftermath, although their elongated forms seem to suggest a spirit of survival. After initially creating works under the influence of primitive art, cubism, and surrealism, in 1935 Giacometti shifted to an almost exclusive preoccupation with the human figure, which endured throughout the rest of his life.
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 257.
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Bronze
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1975.86.FA
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object_notes_2_c-0126.xml.nores