Man Pointing
- Artist: Alberto Giacometti
- Date: 1947
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: object: 1780 x 950 x 520 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Man Pointing” by Alberto Giacometti, a bronze sculpture from 1947. The artist once told us he worked on it between midnight and nine a.m., destroying and recreating it because the foundry workers were arriving. The figure is tall, elongated, with a skeletal quality that emphasizes the act of pointing – a gesture that invites the viewer to consider distance and intention. Philosopher Jean‑Paul Sartre once described the piece as “always halfway between nothingness and being.” Giacometti created several works in that rapid fashion for his 1948 New York exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, and “Man Pointing” remains one of the most striking examples of that period. The bronze bears the artist’s initials and a mark from the Paris foundry, reminding us of the collaborative nature of sculpture. Its posture, with one arm extended toward an unseen point, captures a moment of focused motion that feels both timeless and urgent.
See it in person
Man Pointing is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
