Figures of Crisis: Alberto Giacometti and the Myths of Nationalism

A major reevaluation of a towering figure in twentieth-century art and the relationship of his sculpture to the crisis of nationalism in modern Europe

In 1935, Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966) abruptly abandoned his surrealist experiments and devoted himself to sculpting portrait busts and minuscule figurines, many no larger than a fingernail. Joanna Fiduccia traces the origins and progression of Giacometti’s notorious artistic crisis, revealing its connection to a broader crisi...