Giacometti: Pure Presence, National Portrait Gallery ★★★★★
NPG's major 2015 retrospective focuses on Giacometti's wiry portraits for the first time
Copyright: Alberto Giacometti Estate, Bust of Annette by Alberto Giacometti, 1954 Private Collection
Who is Giacometti?
Alberto Giacometti's slim and frail figures are some of the most recognisable sculptures of the 20th century. And only in May 2015, Giacometti seized the crown for most expensive sculptor ever sold at auction with the hammer coming down at Christie's New York for $141.3m million on L’homme au doigt (1947). For the National Portrait Gallery’s major forthcoming Giacometti exhibition however, monetary value is not everything.
This must-see exhibition reveals how Giacometti revolutionised European portraiture through his relentless pursuit of ‘pure presence’: an unmediated, instantaneous way of perceiving the world. NPG curator Paul Moorhouse explains that Giacometti’s portraiture is unique because ‘it is unsusceptible to any of the conventional readings of portraiture: it is portraiture in the service of looking’.
Giacometti: National Portrait Gallery exhibition
Take a stroll through the left bank of 1930s Paris under the watchful eye of Giacometti and explore the development of modern Western art, influenced by the phenomenological ideas of his close friend Jean-Paul Sartre. This National Portrait Gallery show is also a refreshing insight into Giacometti's personal life: we learn about his brother, Diego, who modelled for Giacometti over the decades; and Caroline, the prostitute he loved in the final years of his life.
NPG Highlights
Giacometti’s unceasing experimentation across different styles and subjects ranges from paintings and drawings to sculpture. You'll love the early geometric manipulation of facial expression in works like Ottilia (1922) and the harrowing expressive human form in the striking late sculpture Annette IV (1962). And of course you'll find the famous Giacometti Women of Venice series of elongated thin female figures on display. However, this major exhibition makes its mark by showing how these vitally important figurative sculptures are indebted to portraiture.
Visit London's National Portrait Gallery this autumn to pay homage to Giacometti’s wonderful portraits from across his illustrious career.
CALLING ART ENTHUSIASTS: A CHANCE TO WIN
Culture Whisper is offering one lucky reader the chance to win this irresistible Giacometti: Pure Presence prize package:
follow us on Twitter & retweet to enter
The winner will be announced on Twitter on Wednesday 4th November
Terms and conditions: Tickets valid during usual Gallery opening hours. Curator introduction available in December only, dates and times to be agreed between winner and the Gallery. No cash alternative.
Alberto Giacometti's slim and frail figures are some of the most recognisable sculptures of the 20th century. And only in May 2015, Giacometti seized the crown for most expensive sculptor ever sold at auction with the hammer coming down at Christie's New York for $141.3m million on L’homme au doigt (1947). For the National Portrait Gallery’s major forthcoming Giacometti exhibition however, monetary value is not everything.
This must-see exhibition reveals how Giacometti revolutionised European portraiture through his relentless pursuit of ‘pure presence’: an unmediated, instantaneous way of perceiving the world. NPG curator Paul Moorhouse explains that Giacometti’s portraiture is unique because ‘it is unsusceptible to any of the conventional readings of portraiture: it is portraiture in the service of looking’.
Giacometti: National Portrait Gallery exhibition
Take a stroll through the left bank of 1930s Paris under the watchful eye of Giacometti and explore the development of modern Western art, influenced by the phenomenological ideas of his close friend Jean-Paul Sartre. This National Portrait Gallery show is also a refreshing insight into Giacometti's personal life: we learn about his brother, Diego, who modelled for Giacometti over the decades; and Caroline, the prostitute he loved in the final years of his life.
NPG Highlights
Giacometti’s unceasing experimentation across different styles and subjects ranges from paintings and drawings to sculpture. You'll love the early geometric manipulation of facial expression in works like Ottilia (1922) and the harrowing expressive human form in the striking late sculpture Annette IV (1962). And of course you'll find the famous Giacometti Women of Venice series of elongated thin female figures on display. However, this major exhibition makes its mark by showing how these vitally important figurative sculptures are indebted to portraiture.
Visit London's National Portrait Gallery this autumn to pay homage to Giacometti’s wonderful portraits from across his illustrious career.
CALLING ART ENTHUSIASTS: A CHANCE TO WIN
Culture Whisper is offering one lucky reader the chance to win this irresistible Giacometti: Pure Presence prize package:
- Two tickets to Giacometti: Pure Presence at the National Portrait Gallery (15 October 2015 - 10 January 2016
- A short introductory talk by a Gallery curator
- An exhibition catalogue
follow us on Twitter & retweet to enter
The winner will be announced on Twitter on Wednesday 4th November
Terms and conditions: Tickets valid during usual Gallery opening hours. Curator introduction available in December only, dates and times to be agreed between winner and the Gallery. No cash alternative.
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| What | Giacometti: Pure Presence, National Portrait Gallery |
| Where | National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, WC2H 0HE | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Charing Cross (underground) |
| When |
15 Oct 15 – 10 Jan 16, Sunday - Monday 10-6pm, Thursday & Friday 10-9pm |
| Price | £17 / Concessions £15.50 (including £2 donation) |
| Website | Click here for more details |