Forgive me if this sounds rough, and it doesn't make 100% sense, for this is really a quick way for me to review for a midterm I have in 90 minutes. If there is something that isn't clear, or I don't elaborate on, and you're interested in it, let me know and I'll see if I have more notes on it, and I'll post something about it in more detail...
We have the French Academy. The Salons, and the grand prizes. The traditional way, the "right" way.
Then we are given Carpeaux. He's sick of doing everything like everyone else, so he chooses to sculpt things like Ugolino, dramatic and real. But still with the mythological story behind it.
And then Rodin. We are given the Age of Bronze in 1876, which was accused of being cast from life. John the Baptist, which turns into The Walking Man, after taking off his head, and arms. And in 1881-1917 the Gates of Hell is born, again and again. He re-arranges the figures and no one really knows when it was finished, or if it ever was. He shows singular items from the gates, such as The Shades, The Shade, The Thinker, Fugit Amor, And we have pieces like Adam, which came directly from a piece such as The Shade. Pieces like Iris showing his love of the awkward, distorted, and uncomfortable poses. And then we are given the Burghers of Calais, he was commissioned to represent the time of Calais when it was under English Domination in the 14th century. It was to show the strength the people had, to self sacrifice for their France. The commissioners wanted something that really showed what it meant to be French, and loving your home. Rodin started with that, but it then morphed into what we see today. He treated each figure as an individual, though it is clear they are together by the "chains" that bind them together, though not one is truly connected to the other. The original composition was a strong pyramidal form, with a figure in the front, and the rest coming out behind him, sort of how geese fly, but Rodin couldn't have that, he said to the mayor of Calais "I am dead against it" and basically said it was insulting for him to work that way. When it was done Calais showed the piece behind a fence, on a huge base, really so no one could see it. Rodin wanted it on the ground, so that one could really live with it, and it would be connected to the people of Calais. After Calais Rodin started to focus on making monuments for famous men, such as Hugo, and his most famous, Balzac. Now, because Balzac was dead, Rodin couldn't meet with him like he did with others, so he went on stories, and his writings to figure out "who" he was. Rodin struggles with the piece for a while, going through many versions, some of just Balzac in normal clothing, some of him in his dressing gown, some of him naked, there was mention of one with Balzac naked, holding onto his erect penis. There were many pieces that were basically huge phallic symbols, and we are left with a sculpture of a man we are told is Balzac the great writer, in a robe. There is no true indication that this is Balzac, other than Rodin saying it is. There's nothing that says he is a writer, or of any importance. The piece is very phallic, heavy, and just odd. That's where I'll end Rodin, just odd. But wonderful all the same.
In 1894 Rosso shows "The Bookmaker made from wax, which has a bit of the same feeling Rodin's Balzac had. He was very influenced by painting and he eventually stops sculpting in the round and starts making vignettes such as "Conversation in a garden" small scale subjects, pictorial little pieces.
In 1923-27 the artist Maillol creates Mediterraanee, a stunning nude in marble, very reminiscent of those from the 19th century and Greece.
Bourdelle creates Hercules in 1909, it's full of power, and potential energy.
An artist looking at the shapes of the body, not so much realistic form, Lehmbruck, creates Fallen Man, in 1915. The piece has some of the most beautiful negative space I've seen in sculpture.
And now, Brancusi, in 1907-8 he shows "The Kiss". It is simplified down to really a single figure, with only the indentation of a male and female embracing.
Brancusi was born in Romania, he was a wood carver, he got a scholarship to go to the school of fin arts and he then goes to the Grande Ecole. He learned to draw and model clay, and he enters Rodin's studio in 1907, he left shortly after and said "Nothing grows under old oaks" he was very unhappy so he went back and started working as a maker. He was a safe sculptor, then he saw the works of non-western artists, "primitive" art, thus giving us The Kiss. He then works with this simplification of figures and ideas and produces pieces like "Suffering" in 1907, Sleeping Child in 1906-8, Newborn (Bronze) in 1915-20-28. Brancusi works with the same idea, and relativity the same shape and form, but experimenting with different materials and bases. He also gets inspired by birds, with two examples- Maistra in 1912, and Bird in Space 1923-25. He goes from simplified, to almost completely abstract. And then we have the Endless Column in 1934. I will post more on Brancusi later, but for test review I'm ending here.
A name we normally don't associate with sculpture is Picasso. At least, I never did, until now. His "Les Demouiselles d'Avignon" is perhaps the most important pieces for modern sculpture, and modern art as a whole. Even though it is a painting, it influenced so many artists, and created a new way of viewing the world. It then lead to Picasso's Head of Fernande in 1909, with the semi cubist feel to it, then to the Glass of Absinthe in 1914 which gave the idea of using already made items such as the Absinthe spoon he fixed to his sculpture. and in the same year he gives us the Guitar, which blurs the line of 3D and 2D art. It's not a sculpture, it cannot be viewed from the back, but it's not a painting, or print. it clearly has depth, but what is it?
An artist very much influenced by everything going on, Gonzalez, and he plays with the idea of abstract sculpture with "Woman Combing her Hair" in 1936, and "Head" in 1935.
Okay, there's my test review, i hope it comes in handy, and I'll elaborate more on Brancusi, and we've only begun with Picasso and Gonzalez, so there should be more of them to come!
until next time...
xoxoxo
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