The sculptor Alberto Giacometti did not make it to old age. He died at 64. And yet, like the attenuated figures he created—standing, striding, simultaneously ancient and post-Atomic—he touches eternity. Giacometti was born in Switzerland in 1901, into a family of artists. In 1922 he moved to Paris, where he was influenced by Cubism and Surrealism, Existentialism and Ancient Egypt. Though shaped in clay and plaster, and later cast in bronze, Giacometti’s sculptures can feel as if they’re made of dust and shadow. One of the largest Giacometti retrospectives in recent years, counting 230 works in a number of mediums, “Marvellous Reality” explores the artist’s evolving vision and replicates the atmosphere of his studio. —L.J.