Alberto Giacometti is considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century — but he was consumed by self-doubt. He painted, drew and sculpted, and his sculptures made him famous. After the traumas of World War II, the Italian-Swiss artist prodded and pushed and punched his materials — clay, plaster, even bronze — into skinny, blobby bodies of men and women, striding through life like shadows. Many of his works are on view at New York's Guggenheim museum until September 12.

A film starring Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush, written and directed by actor Stanley Tucci, also brings Giacometti to life, in all his shuffling, smoking, obsessive glory. Final Portrait is based on American writer James Lord's eye-witness account of the artist at work. Lord posed for him, and then in 1965 wrote the memoir, A Giacometti Portrait, about watching the artist agonizing over every brush stroke.