Alberto Giacometti

I don’t know why I admire the work of Alberto Giacometti, but I do. Beauty is the process of removing all the superfluous? One theory, but then again there are so many philosophies of beauty who can say what is truly beautiful. Alberto Giacometti tried, and maybe I like him for his trying in such and unusual and severe manner. Perhaps it’s the cocktail of creativity and intelligence, a rare enough combination.

The first words which come to mind when viewing his work is ‘austere’, and then ‘skinny’. Very skinny in fact and equally so austere. What was the man thinking, what was he getting at? If things weren’t bad enough, we could add the word ‘gray’ to the mix.

He himself reminds us -

“My colleagues admonish me, ‘paint with colors!’ Isn’t gray a color, too? If I see everything in gray, if within that gray I see all the colors that impress me and that I would like to convey, why should I use another color?”

He knew his own mind and knew what it was he was seeking, this quality alone sets him apart from ninety percent of all people who ever picked up a paint brush or stared at a blank canvas in anguish. Please take time to look at his work futher, I know I will.