Monday, February 23, 2015

SCULPTURE


INTRODUCTION

Hi, everyone! Today, we are going to talk a little about the history of American sculpture in the 19th and 20th century. We will explain its evolution and we will appoint to several authors and their creations, but not focus too much on them because we will do it in future posts. This art is varied in styles: neoclassical, naturalism, realism, etc.

Firstly, we can say that the sculpture dates to the period of Native Americans, but it was probably the least cultivated art in the tribes and colonies. The most important sculptor was William Rush, who had practiced it in pre-Revolutionary and Federalist times.




THE 19TH CENTURY

Now, let's focus on the 19th century, a period in which the sculpture works were mainly developed in Italy, although, the importance in the United States arrived later.
[1] George Washington
The  American sculpture of the 19th century is divided in three phases:
- The first phase was in the beginnings of the century, when American sculptors looked in Italy for inspiration. Then, in 1820, the sculptors traveled to Florence and Rome, where there was a high quality of Marble Neoclassical sculptures. Even American students learnt the characteristics and techniques. Artists such as Horatio Greenough, who made the statue of George Washington in 1840 (National Museum of American History, Washington), [1] worked in abroad and then sent his creations to the United States.
 




This century was characterized by the first works created by women such as Beatrice Cenci (St. Louis Mercantile Library, Misouri) [2] made by Harriet Hosmer in 1857, The Death of Cleopatra (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington) [3] in 1876 by Edmonia Lewis and Bethesda Fountain, whose statue is known as The Angel of Water (Bethesda Terrace, New York) [4] in 1852 by Emma Stebbins.
[2] Beatrice Cenci
[4] The Angel of Water
 
[3] The Death of Cleopatra


















[5] Abraham Lincoln
-Later, during the second half of the century, American sculptors moved to Paris because in that country the works were more realistic, naturalistic and expressive. For this reason, it was changed from Neoclassicism to Realism. Naturally, this phase had many relevant authors too, such as Daniel Chester French, whose masterpiece was the sculpture dedicated to the President of United States, Abraham Lincoln in 1916 (Washington) [5].

- Finally, due to the variety and styles of Italy and Paris, American sculpture got a wide range of topics such as romantic literature, monumental portraiture, classical mythology, Western imagery and Victorian morality tales.


[6] Bronco Buster
The innovation came in the last quarter of the century with the beginning of Western Art Style, whose main subject was life on the frontier. But his authentic development was during the 20th century. This was possible thanks to Frederick Remington, who made the Bronco Buster sculpture statue in 1895 (Wisconsin) [6] and Alexander Phimister Proctor.



THE 20TH CENTURY
Let's move to a new century in the United States. It is the 20th century, one of the most varied, innovative and revolutionary in American sculpture history. We are going to explain the different reasons.
- In the early 20th century, there was a conflict between naturalists and idealized modes of representation. Among the sculptors of this movement are Frederick MacMonnies, who became famous thanks to the Shakespeare Statue (Library of Congress, Washington) [7] in 1916, and Lorado Taft, who exerted a strong influence over the young sculptors of the West and who made colossal fountains such as Fountain of Time (Washington Park, Chicago) [8] in 1922. 

[7] Shakespeare Statue
[8] Fountain of Time


 







[9] Mount Rushmore
A significant cultural development of the era was the founding and expansion of American museums, whose collections were important to art students and public alike. One of the important museums dedicated to sculptures is the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York which was inaugurated in 1930.
Later, it was given a particular relevance to the development of new techniques and new modes of expression.

[10] The standing woman


- During the 20s and 30s, realistic sculptures continued because the artists wanted to keep the traditional styles. This is observed in the excellent Mt. Rushmore National Memorial Monument (Dakota) [9] made by Gutzon Borglum in 1927. Although, the dominant tendency of national sculpture was the abstract and expressive forms. An example is The standing Woman (Los Angeles) [10] created by Gaston Lachaise in 1932.


[11] Agricola
- In the 40s and 50s, the abstract forms and new materials were characteristics. There were a lot of genius and sculptures in these years. Agricola (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington) [11] made by David Smith in 1952, it is an example.
In the second half of the 20th century, it was a mix and variety of different styles, none prevailed over the other. There was minimalism, abstraction, photorealism, conceptualism and neoexpressionism.




Finishing for today, we hope you have enjoyed the introduction to the American sculpture. We have tried to make it easy giving you an overview of it. In future publications we are going to examine more on the subject.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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