The Colossal: From Ancient Greece to Giacometti [Hardcover]

Peter Mason takes a bold, multidisciplinary approach in this account of the idea of the colossal in culture. He gathers instances of the colossal throughout history—including the obelisks of Egypt, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Roman Colosseum, the heads of the Olmecs, and the stone statues of Easter Island—using historical and archaeological evidence to position them within the context of time and culture. Mason establishes a vision of the colossal that encompasses both the colossal in scale and another, overlooked sense of the word: the archaic Greekkolossos, a ritual effigy, and its modern equivalents.

Combining fascinating detail with a rigorous account that spans three millennia,The Colossalargues that the artist who best understood and tapped into thekolossoswas Alberto Giacometti. Mason shows that the Swiss sculptor and painter’s work articulated themes of death and mourning in ways rarely seen since the art of archaic Greece, themes most evident in his enigmatic work,The Cube. From the monolithic sculptures of long-dead civilizations to Giacometti’s imposing and unsettling heads,The Colossalis an innovative book that traces unexplored thematic threads through visual history.

Peter Masonhas written and lectured widely in the field of the history of art and visual culture. His books includeBefore Disenchantment: Images of Exotic Animals and Plants in the Early Modern WorldandThe Whale Book, both published by Reaktion Books.

Introduction: Inventions of the Colossal
1. Locating the Colossal
2. Obelisks on the Move
3. The Colossal Statues of Easter Island
4. Colossal Heads
5. Collecting Moai
6. Technology and Surrealism
Epilogue

References
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Index