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Laurie Wilson's Alberto Giacometti: Myth, Magic, and the Man deepens our appreciation of one of the most significant sculptors of the twentieth century. Giacometti (1901-1966) is best known for his abstract sur-realist works from 1929 to 1932, and for his haunting elongated figures of the post-World War II period. Over the years, art historians have speculated on the meaning of these images, ascribing their enigmatic quality to the artist's affinity with the poetic symbolism of early modernists such as Gauguin and Matisse (Bonnefoy 2001, pp. 6-7). The abstract components of his early works, in particular, are read as poetic correspondences that evoke unconscious feelings and insights in the viewer. Understanding of his tormented, filiform figures is still shaped by his friend Jean-Paul Sartre's timely existentialist interpretations.
Without denying the theories of others, Wilson pushes the boundaries of Giacometti's philosophical milieu (surrealism and existential-ism) to demonstrate the continuity between his early and late works and their primary relevance to the artist's deepest fears—namely, his preoccupation with life and death. With keen perception and solid research, she weaves psychological and cultural meanings together to form a powerful statement about Giacometti's life and art.
An art historian and psychoanalyst, Wilson delves into Giacometti's early life and deconstructs the myth of his happy childhood, shared with a sister and two brothers in a beautiful Alpine valley on the Italian-Swiss border. By most accounts, he was mentored by his artist-father, Giovanni, and supported by a strong, loving mother, Annetta. According to Wilson, however, Giacometti benefited from his father's genuine affection and artistic guidance, while enduring a cold and distant mother, preoccupied with her own psychological pain and overcritical of her children. Alberto curried favor with Giovanni through adoring emulation (copying and recopying his images) and found it difficult