Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1484757
62 I n an age where monuments rightly fall and sculptural tributes to men and women of the past, even those deserving of respect, often appear trite, overblown, or too literal to be in step with today, one 20th- century artist speaks to us powerfully across time. Cue Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This traveling retrospective, installed in the MFAH's Upper Brown Pavilion, lands in Houston as its third of four U.S. stops. The exhibition is co-curated by consulting curator of European art Ann Dumas (who divides her time between her MFAH post and art historic duties at the Royal Academy, London) and Hugo Daniel of Fondation Giacometti, Paris. While the artist's signature attenuated sculptures are hallmarks of most major museum collection, and exhibitions are not uncommon, there's something about this show, "Alberto Giacometti: Toward the Ultimate Figure," that museum-goers will find compelling and extraordinarily moving. "Toward the Ultimate Figure" culls 60 emblematic works spanning the seminal postwar years (1945-1966) from nearly 10,000 works owned by the foundation, augmented by iconic works from the MFAH (memorably, two Standing Woman, from 1948-1949 and 1960) and the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (which loans the showstopper Spoon Woman, 1927, which dramatically begins the exhibition). Through February 12, 2023; mfah.org. Giacometti Surprises at the MFAH The Anti-Hero Rises: By Catherine D. Anspon Clockwise from above: Gordon Parks' Alberto Giacometti in His Studio, circa 1951. Alberto Giacometti's Tall Woman IV, circa 1960–1961. The artist's The Nose, circa 1947–1949. A sculpture of the artist's wife, Bust of Annette (known as Venice), circa 1962. ARTWORKS FONDATION GIACOMETTI. © SUCCESSION ALBERTO GIACOMETTI / ADAGP, PARIS, 2022. COURTESY OF AND © THE GORDON PARKS FOUNDATION