Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966)

Alberto Giacometti was born on October 10, 1901, in Borgonovo, Switzerland, and grew up in the nearby town of Stampa. His father Giovanni was a Post-Impressionist painter. From 1919 to 1920 he studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and sculpture and drawing at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in Geneva. In 1920 he traveled to Italy, where he was impressed by the works of Paul Cézanne and Alexander Archipenko at the Venice Biennale. He was also deeply affected by primitive and Egyptian art and by the masterpieces of Giotto and Tintoretto. In 1922 Giacometti settled in Paris, making frequent visits to Stampa. From time to time over the next several years he attended Antoine Bourdelle's sculpture classes at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere.