Alberto Giacometti (October 10, 1901- January 11, 1966)

Today Rare remembers Alberto Giacometti, who passed away on this date 49 years ago. In addition to his substantial body of work, Giacometti’s legacy also lives on through the expansive influence he had on both his contemporaries—such as British sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986)—and the generation of artists who followed him.

Among this latter group was Edward Delaney (1930-2009), an Irish sculptor whose work was clearly impacted by Giacometti’s aesthetic. However, Delaney skillfully adapted the elder artist’s elongated, wraith-like forms to articulate his own discrete visual language, in particular to powerfully articulate the horrors of the Irish famine (pictured below).

Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993) was a British artist best known for her attenuated outdoor bronze sculptures. Frink acknowledged Giacometti as an early influence in her work, especially where her process was concerned: she noted in an interview with the National British Library that after meeting Giacometti in Paris as a young artist, she was encouraged by his example to model with plaster, a medium she subsequently worked in for the rest of her career.

Gary Hill (b. 1951), an American video artist, has been a pioneer in the medium of videography, but as a teenager initially worked in sculpture. He has stated that Giacometti was one of his early inspirations, leading him to first begin considering art as a viable career choice.