Fondation Giacometti

Listen the guide audio
Among the works in the exhibition
From the first model in 1932 to the famous figures produced at the end of his career in the 1960s, this motif testifies to the artist's tireless quest to represent the essence of the human being. This embodiment of humanity, which is particularly precious in the present day, places this work among the best known in the world.

The Walking Man was, in his first state, a Woman Walking (1932). The motif indeed appears in a surrealist work, an intriguing Egyptian-inspired figure.
It reappeared after the war, on the occasion of commemorative commissions for which Giacometti explored the modes of representation of a universal human figure (1946). The first Walking Man in large Size (1947), again borrows its attitude from the Egyptian model, whose style Giacometti admires.
On the contrary, the following works draw their inspiration from everyday life. The artist restores the perception of a street situation captured by chance from the terrace of a café.
The very poetic Figurine entre deux maisons (1950), which features a female figure, is reminiscent of the dreamlike atmosphere of the surrealist works.
Three Men Walking (1948), The Square (1948) or Man Crossing a Square (1949), thus translate the fleeting vision of life offered by the movement of people moving in the distance.
The artist did not take up the motif again until 1959, when he received a new commission for the public space. It was under these circumstances that he created the sculptures that are now considered icons of 20th century art. In all, he will have created four life-size Walking Man, three of which are cast in bronze.

Guide audio
Discover "The Walking Man" with comments from the different rooms of the exhibition. Each podcast can be downloaded on your phone by clicking on the icon after starting the podcast. 

#1. Reception – Introduction to the exhibition

#2. Giacometti’s studio

#3. In the cabinet of graphic arts - The drawings of Walking Men

#4. In the corridor - Walking Woman

#5. In the roadside room - The Night and Figurine between two houses

#6. In the traversing room - The squares

#7. In the library - Three large-format sculptures of Walking Man 

#8. In the reading room - The Project for the Chase Manhattan Plaza