META: Modern Europe through Art

 

  Module 5
 
Alberto Giacometti  

Alberto Giacometti exhibition poster

Module five evokes the existentialist spirit that descended upon Europe in the decades after World War II. Staggering casualties, devastated cities, the Holocaust, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki contributed to a profound sense of despair, disillusionment, and skepticism. Community and society had failed man. People therefore found resonance in existentialism's emphasis on the individual as a singular, often lonely, figure meant to forge her/his own meaning and identity via the choices that s/he makes.

> Lesson Plan: Activities and discussion questions (PDF)
> Featured Image: Poster featuring the MoMA (NYC) 2001-2002 Alberto Giacometti exhibit.

 
 
additional examples of artwork from this artist and period are found below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roots of Modernism: 19th Century Progress and Industrialization Degenerate Art: Politics, Censorship, & Creation Dada: Reaction to the Great War Existentialism1.htm
Existentialism: Life After War




European Events 1940-1950 United States events 1940-1950 primary literary source cultural and historical context analysis of art work in historical context relationship of art work to literary source

 

 

Giacometti: City Square (1948)
City Square by Alberto Giacometti (1948) | enlarge

 

  

Giacometti: The Artist's Mother (1950)
The Artist's Mother by Alberto Giacometti (1950) | enlarge


 

Alberto Giacometti: The Chariot (1950)
The Chariot by Alberto Giacometti (1950) | enlarge

 

Alberto Giacometti: Dog (1951)
Dog by Alberto Giacometti (1951). | enlarge