WANDER | Alberto Giacometti x 'A Line Through Time' x VAG

Downtown—(June 15, 2019) The Vancouver Art Gallery opened its headline summer exhibition, A Line Through Time, focused on the works of eccentric but renowned Swiss-born sculptor Alberto Giacometti (1901-66). Occupying the gallery's first-floor space, the unique display showcases Giacometti's many surreal pieces alongside various ancient sculptures that served his imagination as inspiration as well as complementary works (over 130 in total) by other famed contemporary artists with whom he was in dialogue.

Annette Without Arms (Annette IX), 1964 and Bust of Diego, 1955/57

Remarkably, this is Vancouver's first major presentation of Giacometti in the city's history. The wide-ranging collection features various paintings, sculptures, drawings, designs, and lithographs by Giacometti that examines the pre and post-war career of one of the greatest sculptors of the first half of the twentieth century.

Head/Skull, 1934

Following WWII, Giacometti's practice focused deeply on alienated figures and themes of isolation as he continued to develop his study of the human figure. His obsession with capturing a likeness in individuals required him to return again and again to some of his key subjects including his brother Diego and wife Annette.

Figures like a standing woman and a walking man are obsessively rendered and repeated. They became among the most widely recognized sculptures of the era and are also prevalent in his paintings as featured in this exhibition.

Man Walking (Version I), 1960

It's interesting to note Giacometti's interest in archaic and classical sculptures from the Mediterranean region. Such works are also included in A Line Through Time to bridge Giacometti's ideas and philosophies to antiquity in building an extraordinary collection of ancient sculptures and ceremonial objects from around the world.



In 2016, the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts in Norwich originally curated and commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of Giacometti's death through A Line Through Time and it was subsequently named as one of the top exhibitions of that year by The Telegraph.

A Line Through Time is on display now until September 29th.


More | YVArcade / Cabin Fever / HDYCTL? / Murakami / Montecristo / Nuvo / Straight / Ubyssey