Moved by the Immobile: A Phenomenological Study of the Moving Presence of Works in Alberto Giacometti’s Mature Period (1945–1966)

The impetus of this thesis lies in the moving presence of the art of twentieth-century modern artist Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966), understood in the literal and figurative senses of the word “movement.” Its focus is on the way Giacometti’s inanimate works animate their viewers—stirring, moving, and inviting them to move through, around, and alongside his works. In this way, I liken the moving presence of Giacometti’s art to the presence of a human before us. Aided by the insights of twentieth-century philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty, readers will be moved to their own phenomenological experiences of Giacometti’s work. Formal studies will reveal the palpable relationships between stillness and movement as well as distance and proximity within Giacometti’s works’ texture, scale, and finally, his artistic process. Drawing upon both formal analysis and phenomenological aesthetic theory, I argue that Giacometti’s lifelong struggle to find an ending point to his works was his primary strength, in allowing his viewers to finish the works with their own eyes.