Giacometti's "The Walking Man": the convergence of embodiment and space in sculpture
The Walking Man, a crucial character, encapsulates a paradigm of new humanism by conveying an existential message. The elongated shapes in which the volume reduced to a basic line is propelled by a tortuous treatment of the surface were a distinctive feature of Alberto Giacometti's (1901–1966) post-war work. The impact of Etruscan art is pervasive in the Swiss artist, whose perception of the human form is also infused with the recent discovery of body castings found beneath the remains of Vesuvius at Pompeii. The Walking Man symbolises this era characterised by the psychological distress caused by war, depictions of interment camps, and the dread of a nuclear catastrophe.
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Giacometti, in a markedly distinct manner, revisits the traditional motif first established by Auguste Rodin in his Walking Man about 1900: how, using the most immobile of artistic mediums, to depict elusive and fleeting motion. Initially, the Swiss artist produced a Walking Woman sculpture in 1932, followed by the creation of his inaugural Walking Man sculpture around fifteen years later. Each of the variants labeled I to III was created in 1960 by the artist with the intention of enhancing public spaces, namely the Chase Manhattan Plaza in New York. Should this previous endeavour fail to materialise, the many replicas of this artwork, upon their arrival in a museum, immediately become the focal point of the collection.
Where can it be seen?
The Louisiana Museum of Art, located in Humlebaek in Copenhagen, is consistently recognized as one of the most beautifully designed museums globally. The expansive glass windows in the interior galleries facilitate the interaction between Giacometti's artworks and the impressive Danish sculpture garden, which offers a picturesque view of the sea... It is also feasible to view Walking Man in France, either at the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul de Vence or at the Institut Giacometti in Paris, due to the abundance of prints available.
Investigation:
Undoubtedly, this sculpture stands as his most renowned creation, having evolved in tandem with his whole artistic trajectory. Nevertheless, there has not been a comprehensive exhibition explicitly dedicated to it. The Giacometti Institute in Paris has effectively consolidated nearly all the iterations of Walking Man to enhance the promotion of this inherently multifaceted piece... An urgent visit to make a booking.
Paris, 1945. The years of conflict were arduous. Not that Alberto Giacometti truly experienced physical pain (he sustained a foot injury in 1938 in an accident, which would require him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life and prevent him from being mobilized). Since 1941, he has been residing in Geneva as a refugee, accompanied by his mother and his beloved nephew. Nevertheless, from an artistic perspective, these years were undeniably a period of hardship. Situated far from his Parisian workshop on rue Hippolyte Maindron, to the south of Montparnasse, he finds himself disoriented and lacking in creative inspiration.X
Confronted with a cramped hotel room filled with sacks of plaster, the artist felt unable to produce anything more than miniatures that could be contained within a few matchboxes. "I did it against my own will." "I failed to comprehend," he would retort. "I started huge and ended up little. Only the diminutive appeared resemblant to me. Later, I comprehended that one can only perceive a person in their entirety when they gradually distance themselves and shrink in size. Tormented by his discontent, he was unable to resolve his issue of proportion. "The most challenging aspect is in successfully rendering a satisfactory figure from a model, as one's perception of the model varies on a daily basis," he stated.
Thus, in September 1945, his arrival back in Paris was like to a refreshing gust of wind. There he discovered his beloved brother Diego, a valuable aide and irreplaceable exemplar. While in Geneva, Alberto encountered the radiant Annette Arm, who was 22 years his junior, and she successfully prevented him from recalling his prior romantic involvement with the turbulent Isabel Nicholas. Alongside him in Paris, she altruistically embraced the profound austerity of his everyday existence till his death.
Giacometti identifies himself as a "former surrealist sculptor." Despite facing frequent discouragement, Alberto persisted: "I am aware that I have unique content to convey that others do not, and if I continue, it is because I have a profound and unwavering conviction that I will accomplish my goals and that these previous years have not been wasted but rather acquired," he wrote to his mother. Following the conflicts with his surrealist companions, which resulted in his expulsion from the group in February 1935, he faced criticism for his associations with figuration and the model, among other things.
Although Giacometti acknowledges the visionary sculptures of the 1930s that garnered him the admiration of Parisian intellectuals and reiterates his commitment to ongoing exhibitions, he prefers to be classified as a "former surrealist sculptor". Once the first uncertainties are overcome, these years following the war will be highly productive. Henceforth, only the creative process holds greater significance. Therefore, Walking Man progressively gains form.
In close proximity to the communists, albeit lacking formal registration, the sculptor was commissioned to create a monument-tribute in honour of Gabriel Péri, a distinguished figure of the Resistance who was killed in 1941 at Mont Valérien. Giacometti's work was never primarily focused on praising heroes, making the casting particularly intriguing. Consistent with whatever undertaking, he exerted unwavering effort. Building upon a foundation, he meticulously crafted and reconstructed, linking two ambulatory entities, a woman and a man, with slim forms, devoid of any garments, to ensure their uninterrupted perusal. These characters exist beyond the confines of time.
"The first pedestrian was a female."
Rationally, this inclination to produce a general sculpture lacks persuasiveness. The experiment proves unsuccessful, but Giacometti successfully reconfigures his research. Thus emerges the Night, described by the author as a "slender young girl groping in the dark". This is not, in fact, the sculptor's inaugural depiction of a "walking woman". A preexisting figure, perhaps from his surrealist era, might have functioned as a matrix. Catherine Grenier, director of the Giacometti Foundation and curator of the exhibition, affirms that the first Walking Man was the female figure.
In 1932, Alberto Giacometti concomitantly created two distinct sculptures: Walking Woman, a headless figure devoid of arms, resembling a hieratic goddess Gradiva (meaning "she who walks" in Latin) reminiscent of an Egyptian hieroglyph, and Woman Slit Her Throat, a figure shattered on the ground with her limbs severed, still exhibiting a completely surrealist quality. An articulation of his ambivalent connection with women, oscillating between captivation and apprehension? Presumably. Nevertheless, this Walking Woman, characterized by her enduring and surreal qualities, subsequently declares his resurgence in figurative representation.
The object underwent several metamorphoses: first converted into a surrealist mannequin, then endowed with limbs and a head resembling a violin shaft (1933), and then reassembled at the thoracic level (1936). "Undoubtedly, it is the most gratifying pursuit I have undertaken thus far," he expressed to his mother. "I initiated the project in 1932 and thereafter dedicated significant effort [...]. However, I am aware of all the imperfections and elements that are absent for it to truly embody the qualities of a sculpture. Nevertheless, I am eager to make further progress in the near future." Such that it has undergone a change in sex...
Giacometti's distinctive sculpture is also highly graphic, as supported by these sketches that depict the anatomical form of the human body rather than its motion.
"Giacometti possessed the ability to imbue matter with the sole authentic notion of human unity: the unity of the act."
The form, which progressively increased in dimensions, would eventually transform into a man. Future female sculptures by Giacometti would be characterized by their immobility and frontal orientation. In 1961, the artist attested to this fact during an interview with the critic and art historian Pierre Schneider (l'Express, June 8, 1961): "I had come to the realization that I am only capable of creating a static female figure and an ambulatory male figure."
In 1948, Giacometti presented the first autonomous version of Walking Man at the big monographic show organized by his dealer Pierre Matisse in New York. This model was more realistic, nearly life-size, stretched to the extreme, and so thin that it was practically imperceptible from the front. In his catalogue preface, Jean-Paul Sartre elucidates the artist's methodology: "After a span of three millennia, the objective of Giacometti and other contemporary sculptors is not to augment the galleries with novel creations, but to demonstrate the feasibility of sculpture." To substantiate it through sculpting, just as Diogenes demonstrated motion by walking... Giacometti had the remarkable ability to imbue matter with the one authentic human coherence: the coherence of the action.
An assemblage of sculptures located at the Rudier foundry, dating back to approximately 1948. i Collection of the Fondation Giacometti / © Succession Alberto Giacometti (Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris + Adagp, Paris).
"Giacometti reintroduces the perspective system, a well recognized technique in painting, into sculpture."
Having achieved both public and economic success, the exhibition signaled the commencement of the artist's global acclaim. As is customary in his artistic process, the Walking Man would experience successive iterations. His initial rendition was replete with references. Regarding Egyptian statuary, which he encountered while visiting the Egyptian Museum in Florence in the 1920s, he openly acknowledged in his correspondence: "These are authentic sculptures." Although all essential elements have been eliminated from the entire figure, leaving no space for insertion of a hand, one can nevertheless perceive a remarkable sense of motion and shape.
Undoubtedly, the existence of Rodin's ghost also endures. During his time as a student, Giacometti had forsaken his bus fare money in order to purchase a book on the master. Reintroduced onto the loom, occasionally augmented with paint, the Walking Man experiences more transformations, the result of a gaze now firmly rooted in the scrutiny of ordinary existence. Originally universal and genderless, he transforms into an ordinary man seen from the terrace of a café, a handsome masculine figure walking with remarkable speed within a defined area bounded by a plinth. "Giacometti has incorporated the perspective system, a well recognized technique in painting, into sculpture," Catherine Grenier explains. These figures were subsequently reduced towards the end of the 1940s in a series of groups known as the Places, which aimed to link stationary ladies with male figures in motion.
Finally, he presented a final model for a new enormous project. The artist was commissioned in 1959 to produce a sculptural group intended for installation on a square located in front of the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. The concept he created incorporated a towering female figure, an ambulatory male figure, and a substantial head. The previous malevolent forces were rekindled: once more consumed by the challenges of proportion, not only among the various figures but also by the physical dimensions of this square where he had never set foot (he had consistently declined to attend his exhibitions in New York, a decision he would ultimately make in 1965, just before his demise).
"Giacometti has produced a reference work, a recurring thematic element, an archetype that captivates the universal audience."
The prototypes were cast but, upon the artist's request, were not forwarded. After much deliberation, Giacometti relinquished his efforts. Two prints of Walking Man, featuring a more energetic gait and slightly larger than human proportions, were ultimately created. These unique large-scale pieces became symbolic of his artistic style. They were displayed separately in his retrospective staged during the Venice Biennale in 1962 and then reintroduced for the inauguration of the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence in 1964, marking the artist's first significant exhibition in a French museum institution, twenty years after his debut in New York.
Consistent with his extensive body of work spanning four decades, which revolved around three recurring themes (head, female figure, male figure), the Walking Man was likewise characterized by an obsessive commitment. Moreover, it was the focal point of his eventual masterwork, which Catherine Grenier observes is uncommon as most artists like to engage in repetitive repetition. How can we elucidate its emblematic power? While there exist four primary iterations, the general public perceives them as a singular entity due to their iconic status. Giacometti has created a referential piece, a recurring theme, an archetype that captivates audiences. "He effectively conveys the emotion in a clear and spontaneous manner, while the artwork is the result of a sophisticated layering of meaning, possessing a very powerful symbolic and narrative capacity," she elaborates.
Timeless, with a keen insight that remains highly apparent in the present day, his Walking Man portrays a delicate and tenacious human condition.
Nevertheless, Giacometti's writings on the subject were minimal, therefore leaving his interpretation unclarified. Certain individuals, towards the conclusion of the war, interpreted it as a summons to the victims who had returned from the extermination camps. However, at the time of his initial creation of his first elongated and undernourished figures, Giacometti had not yet encountered these visual representations. Contrary to this approach, Sartre would argue that these bodies have undergone some form of transformation: do they emerge from a concave mirror, a source of youthful energy, or a deportation camp? Initially, we perceive ourselves as being confronted with the malnourished victims of Buchenwald. Yet, the next instant we have reverted our decision: these exquisite and elegant beings ascend to heaven, we astonish an entire procession of Ascensions, Assumptions, they dance, they are dances, they are composed of the same rarefied stuff as these magnificent bodies that we are assured. And as we continue to reflect upon this enigmatic surge, where these malnourished bodies flourish, we are only presented with terrestrial flowers.
Nevertheless, Catherine Grenier does not wish to disregard this interpretation in an artist who has been haunted by death since infancy. She believes that his works reflect his era while evading the constraints of time, showcasing the resilience and vulnerability of this man who persists. He did not have this concept in his mind at the time of their creation. Yet, it is only natural that we contemplated it after the war. With enduring relevance, his Walking Man portrays a delicate and tenacious human spirit, characterized by humility and a perpetual drive for progress.
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