ALBERTO GIACOMETTI: DAS MASS DER WELT( THE MEASURE OF THE WORLD)
By Diana Perry Schnelle
On January 21, a group of us traveled as part of the AWCH Art Group to Bremen to see the exhibition“ Alberto Giacometti: Das Maß der Welt( The Measure of the World)” at the Kunsthalle Bremen. We were extremely lucky to have our AWCH member Frances Livings lead us on an incredibly informative tour through the exhibition, which focused on the artist’ s relationship to landscape, in particular the Swiss mountains where he grew up.
Long after Giacometti( 1901-1966) moved to Paris in 1922 to study sculpture, he continued to be influenced by the natural world, creating sculptures, paintings, drawings, and watercolors that referenced the trees and mountains of his Swiss childhood as much as the cosmopolitan setting of the French capital.
The exhibition brought together artworks from the Fondation Giacometti in Paris with numerous works from the Kunsthalle Bremen’ s collection. Ranging from Giacometti’ s time as part of the Surrealist group in Paris in the 1930s to the influence of the Romantic movement of the nineteenth century on his oeuvre to his connections to the European avant-garde literature scene of the post-war years, the works in the exhibition continued to circle back to the influence of landscape on the Swiss artist.
Frances’ s insight into his working practices, fascinating biographical details, and her sharp eye for his connections to other artists of the twentieth century made the tour an incredibly rich and rewarding experience. It was also lovely to see the permanent collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen, which is installed in the museum around art historical themes rather than in a strictly chronological sense.
CURRENTS 41