Carpeaux, Carpeaux, Carpeaux!

Last post was about modern art as a whole, focusing on painting, and the French Academy...this post will deal with modern sculpture....

     

The idea of sculpture was classic. Perfection, pure, cold. Influenced by Rome and Greece.

[Theseus and the Centaur- Canova]

Ignore that stupid fig leaf that was added later by some idiot. But looking past that, noting the idealized body, the perfect frozen moment in time, there is so much power, yet, it's so still. Very quiet. One thing I do love about this piece is the wonderful pyramid form Canova made with the left leg of Theseus straight in an angle, leading your eye up to his hand with the club, which leads your eyes back down through this beautiful line made with the club, his other arm, through the arm of the Centaur. Very balanced in composition. 

But things like this had been done before. Many, many times over. The French Academy ate it up, but for someone like, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux...well it just wasn't good enough anymore.  

Carpeaux went into the petite ecole and studied drawing, he however doesn't want to be worker, which was what typically happens with the petite ecole, it's a step down from the Grande Ecole where the students went on to be a practicien(practitioner) where they would work for and with artists, helping sculptures carve the marble, cast the iron/copper/or other metals. Carpeaux wanted to be an artist, and being a practicien was just a fall back. He enters the Grande Ecole in 1844 as a student of Francois Rude and remained in the studio for 6 years. Rude believed art cannot be taught, you must learn how to work, and then one becomes an artist. That was fine for Rude, but for the Grande Ecole, no no no, you are taught how to paint, draw, sculpt, not how to work, that's for the petite ecole. The Grande Ecole teaches you how to think like an artist, it teaches you how to create works like ancient Rome and Greece. It teaches you to emulate, and return to the classics. Carpeaux knows this, along with the politics that go with it, and he wants to win the Prix de Rome. And in 1854 he wins and he switches his studio from Rude to Duret.   

(Rude- Neapolitan Fisher Boy) (Duret- Neapolitan fisherman dancing)

See the difference in masters? Rude's fisher boy is real, you can expect to walk down the coast, or docks and see a little boy playing with a turtle. It's true to life, there is no idealized nature to it, its very relaxed and cool. Duret's piece, however, is the idea of the dance. You won't see a fisherman dancing like this, it's all about the idea. Not reality. 

They both understood the tradition of the fisher boy. -Note the chain necklace on both, and the traditional hat they wore. They know how to sculpt, Rude was just not interested in teaching the 'idea' but the natural. Rude didn't want to teach tradition, Duret did. "Duret WAS the Grande Ecole" people loved him, and Carpeaux wants that Prix de Rome, so he makes the switch. And after competing 9 times he wins, with Hector and his son Astyanax  seen here.

*fun fact about this piece, when artists are modeling their next sculpture, they cannot have any sketches in their cubical. One day there was an accusation about someone sneaking papers in the studio, and he was caught. That artist was Carpeaux, and the sketch was for this piece. Obviously he was still able to create it, and it almost didn't win. They (the Salon Juries) voted 5 times and at the end it was 5 to 3 in favour. and the only reason it won(so we've been told) was because of his execution. He spent 3 years in the Villa Medici...some say it's like being treated like kings, while others believed it was where all inspiration died. Carpeaux was towards the latter of the two, and when he was sick of it all, he went to Michelangelo. Can I just stop here and share a swoon? Okay, continuing on.....

For his envoi(the piece meant to be a gift for the state after winning the Prix de Rome) he sent Ugolino and His Sons seen here ....

[front]

[back]

I include the back really for my personal pleasure, I adore how he sculpted the backs, and how beautifully haunting it is even without the faces. 

Ugolino is a complete 180 turn from his "Hector". It is a classic subject, but he amps up the drama and realistic style. It is completely shocking, and absolutely successful. It made him infamous. "The man who created Ugolino" A beautiful, haunting piece. It got so much attention, which was Carpeaux's goal. 

The Dance

He doesn't stop with the 'amplifying' drama. With his "The Dance" he creates a surprising, WAY too natural, and much too erotic, sculpture. This is thought to be the beginning of modern sculpture. It was so shocking, and scandalous people couldn't stop talking about it. Which as any artist knows, is just perfection. 

The next post will be all about the glorious Auguste Rodin, get ready. I love him so much. 

-xoxo