SCULPTORS from Switzerland

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Swiss Sculptors of all time. This list of famous Swiss Sculptors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Alberto Giacometti (1901 - 1966)

With an HPI of 71.59, Alberto Giacometti is the most famous Swiss Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 53 different languages on wikipedia.

Alberto Giacometti (, US also , Italian: [alˈbɛrto dʒakoˈmetti]; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family and work on his art. Giacometti was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced by artistic styles such as Cubism and Surrealism. Philosophical questions about the human condition, as well as existential and phenomenological debates played a significant role in his work. Around 1935 he gave up on his Surrealist influences to pursue a more deepened analysis of figurative compositions. Giacometti wrote texts for periodicals and exhibition catalogues and recorded his thoughts and memories in notebooks and diaries. His critical nature led to self-doubt about his own work and his self-perceived inability to do justice to his own artistic vision. His insecurities nevertheless remained a powerful motivating artistic force throughout his entire life. Between 1938 and 1944 Giacometti's sculptures had a maximum height of seven centimeters (2.75 inches). Their small size reflected the actual distance between the artist's position and his model. In this context he self-critically stated: "But wanting to create from memory what I had seen, to my terror the sculptures became smaller and smaller". After World War II, Giacometti created his most famous sculptures: his extremely tall and slender figurines. These sculptures were subject to his individual viewing experience—between an imaginary yet real, a tangible yet inaccessible space. In Giacometti's whole body of work, his painting constitutes only a small part. After 1957, however, his figurative paintings were equally as present as his sculptures. The almost monochrome paintings of his late work do not refer to any other artistic styles of modernity.

2. Jean Tinguely (1925 - 1991)

With an HPI of 62.72, Jean Tinguely is the 2nd most famous Swiss Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century. Tinguely's art satirized automation and the technological overproduction of material goods.

3. James Pradier (1790 - 1852)

With an HPI of 52.87, James Pradier is the 3rd most famous Swiss Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

James Pradier (born Jean-Jacques Pradier, pronounced [pʁadje]; 23 May 1790 – 4 June 1852) was a Genevan-born French sculptor best known for his work in the neoclassical style.

4. Hermann Obrist (1863 - 1927)

With an HPI of 50.08, Hermann Obrist is the 4th most famous Swiss Sculptor.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Hermann Obrist (23 May 1862 at Kilchberg (near Zürich), Switzerland – 26 February 1927, Munich, Germany) was a Swiss sculptor of the Jugendstil and Art Nouveau movement. He studied Botany and History in his youth; the influence of those subjects is detected in his later work in the field of applied arts. As a teacher, Hermann Obrist exerted a seminal influence on the rise and subsequent development of Jugendstil in Germany.