Retrospective, 1964-1984

by H.R. Giger

More than 150 artworks, spanning 20 years in the career of the world's most renowned artist of the fantastical and the surreal, are gathered in one volume, rich with detail and color. Carefully rendered reproductions of Giger's best paintings are accompanied by his own commentary. 70 color illus. 75 b&w illus. 25 b&w photos.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Horror, Biography, Erotica

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940 - 2014) was an Academy Award-winning Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer best known for his design work on the film Alien.

Reviews

[Michael Benavidez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be perfectly honest and say that when I came upon Giger's, I thought his work completely surrounded that of Alien and the other Biomechanical pieces that have become quite popular. I knew nothing about the meaning behind these, or the other works that he has done. Retrospective gives a balance of that.
It reads like a biography, but it isn't really. It just skims through important pieces of his life, focusing less on the events and more on the work that came as a result. Every once in a while a paragraph of Giger' words will follow, and explain what certain pieces meant or just little interesting facts. For the most part, this is just a collection of the different styles he went through in the given time periods with interesting facts.
For the pieces of art alone, this is still worth a look through, and another look through and another. For each look through there is a new detail, in each piece. Very wonderful book.

[Annie S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great artwork, pretty good formatting, art spreads, and just creepy and erotic vibes. The retrospective aspect of the book is very general and just follows a timeline. I was honestly hoping for more of his personal thoughts, but there was only a couple pages or so. You're really just here for the artwork anyway, so oh well.

Overall, I'd recommend this as just a decent coffee table book.

[Xisix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one for the Giger collection. Many of the images and stories are duplicated in Arh+, though Retrospective drops a few tidbits here and there not found in the other one.

[Ingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

As this is a picture book, no review. Being a fan of his Art I just wanted to add it to show I own a copy.
R.I.P.
H. R. Giger

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was interesting, weird and a little creepy and just out there, but at the same time, interesting at least. I heard of this from the movie Alien.