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 crisis of national identity in modern Europe. In this decade-long interval, the central features of his artworks—their turbulent surfaces, unsettling generality, severely reduced scale, and compulsive repetition—gave form to the experience of social breakdown and war, even as they laid the groundwork for his iconic postwar sculpture. Pursuing a concept of crisis as both an irreducible encounter with uncertainty and the clarification of a conflict, Fiduccia reimagines this fragmentary and inconspicuous body of work as the pivotal phase in the artist’s career as well as a vital episode in the history of modern sculpture. This fresh account, told through the philosophical, political, and aesthetic thought of Giacometti’s time, shows how ideologies of nationalism helped generate the problems of selfhood at the heart of modernism.

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.