Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Sculpture Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 91 - 101 of 101

Full-Text Articles in Sculpture

Maternity Dress, Risd Museum, Deborah Johnson, Hilary Treadwell, Judith Tannenbaum Aug 2014

Maternity Dress, Risd Museum, Deborah Johnson, Hilary Treadwell, Judith Tannenbaum

Channel

1966


Rock Head, Risd Museum, James Montford Aug 2014

Rock Head, Risd Museum, James Montford

Channel

One of contemporary art’s most compelling and elusive figures, David Hammons draws upon his identity as an African American for his sculptures, performances, and installations. He was also inspired by the 1960s Italian Arte Povera (Poor Art) movement with its use of everyday materials to create metaphorical imagery. Rock Head embodies a strikingly elegant human form with remarkable simplicity, roughness, and asymmetry. Reminiscent of both archeological remains and Brancusi’s Modernist ovoid heads, the smooth boulder is thatched with hair swept up from the floor of a Harlem barbershop. Hammons began using human hair from barbershops in the 1970s for installations …


Goddess Maat, Risd Museum, Gina Borromeo, Ingrid Neuman Jun 2014

Goddess Maat, Risd Museum, Gina Borromeo, Ingrid Neuman

Channel

This depiction of Maat appears to be cast in three pieces: the altar, the figure, and the feather. Smooth, highly polished surfaces contrast with the concentrated detailing of the feather, wig, broad collar, and openwork altar. The goddess embodying truth, balance, and proper action, Maat pervaded all aspects of Egyptian culture. Traditionally represented as a woman with an ostrich feather headdress, Maat here sits in a characteristic pose. Similar bronze figures of Maat suggest that this piece is incomplete, and was most likely part of a group composition in which the goddess was juxtaposed with a larger figure of the …


Head Of Buddha Shakyamuni, Risd Museum, Gregory Schopen, Vazira Zamindar Apr 2014

Head Of Buddha Shakyamuni, Risd Museum, Gregory Schopen, Vazira Zamindar

Channel

The earliest images of Buddha are found in modern-day Pakistan at sites along ancient trade routes. The region once known as Gandhara was familiar to the Greeks as early as the fourth century BCE. Traces of their influence are visible in the classicizing features of this head of Buddha (top), combined with all the traditional attributes of Buddha—the skull protuberance, the spot or tuft of hairs between the eyebrows, and the elongated earlobes of ancient Indian nobility. The simplified and youthful facial features and the coiled knots of hair are typical of Gandharan representations. This head would probably have been …


The Hand Of God, Stephen Shaheen Feb 2014

The Hand Of God, Stephen Shaheen

Channel

Rodin’s The Hand of God has been viewed not only as a metaphorical representation of the creation of man but also as a commentary on the sculptor’s role as creator. The emblematic hand that emerges from a block of roughly hewn marble represents the Divine Creator forming the bodies of Adam and Eve interlocked in a primal embrace. In contrast to the figures’ slender, attenuated limbs, the sinewy hand was perceived by critics as that of a working man. Together, the well-defined hand and the ephemeral figures bridge Rodin’s interests in both realist and symbolist art. One of three known …


Funerary Stela Of Heni, Risd Museum, Antoine Revoy, James Allen Aug 2013

Funerary Stela Of Heni, Risd Museum, Antoine Revoy, James Allen

Channel

Offered symbolically, the images and hieroglyphics depicted on the right of this funerary stela ensured that Heni, a local high official, would never experience hunger or thirst in the afterlife. The slightly awkward proportions of Heni’s figure are typical of monuments of the First Intermediate period, when there was no centralized government in Egypt. The lack of royal control over artistic production during this time allowed artists to experiment, as seen in the multiple levels of relief on Heni’s kilt, the particular green of the hieroglyphs, and the striped border. 2134-2040 BCE


Chair And Table, Risd Museum, Tony Cokes, Rosanne Somerson Apr 2013

Chair And Table, Risd Museum, Tony Cokes, Rosanne Somerson

Channel

Richard Artschwager was a scientist and a furniture maker before becoming an artist. Through a witty transformation of material and scale characteristic of Pop Art, his work considers the relationship between art and everyday objects as it explores ideas about both sculpture and furniture. The exaggerated thickness of the chair and table negates their traditional function: the narrow space between the seat and tabletop make it impossible to sit there. Artschwager’s use of Formica® with a simulated wood-grain pattern raises questions about what is real, fake, or a simulation of something else. In the case of his Exclamation Point, Artschwager …


Portrait Of Agrippina The Younger, Risd Museum, Natalie Kampen, Lisa Anderson Sep 2012

Portrait Of Agrippina The Younger, Risd Museum, Natalie Kampen, Lisa Anderson

Channel

Agrippina (15–59 CE), the subject of this portrait, was related to four different Roman emperors: she was granddaughter to Augustus, sister to Caligula, mother to Nero, and niece and later wife to Claudius. It is therefore not surprising that many portraits of her survive. They invariably depict her with a broad forehead, a square jaw, large eyes, thin lips, and a sharp chin, all features shared by many members of the imperial family. Ancient pieces were sometimes combined with other sculptural elements to create “new” composite sculptures. This ancient portrait head was inserted into a bust composed of different-colored marble …


Model Of A Funerary Boat, Risd Museum, Peter Dean, Peter Johnson Jun 2012

Model Of A Funerary Boat, Risd Museum, Peter Dean, Peter Johnson

Channel

During the funeral, the deceased took a last earthly journey, traveling by boat to the cemetaries on the west bank of the Nile. The next voyage then began: a spiritual pilgrimmage to Abydos, the religious center and burial place of the god Osiris. For this reason, wooden model boats were often placed within tombs as substitutes for large-scale vessels in the afterlife. This model boat mimicked papyrus funerary barks. The wedjat-eyes painted on the hull were meant to guide the vessel safely through the perilous journey to the afterlife. 2100-1900 BCE


Grand Arabesque, Second Time, Risd Museum, Julie Strandberg, Jeff Hesser May 2012

Grand Arabesque, Second Time, Risd Museum, Julie Strandberg, Jeff Hesser

Channel

Transitional poses such as this one were constant themes of Edgar Degas’s numerous sculptural studies made in wax, wire, and plastilene. Collected from his studio following his death, these models became the sources of small editions cast in bronze, including this one of a dancer posed in a grand arabesque. In the classic ballet position, the dancer bends forward while standing on one straight leg, with the opposite arm extended forward and the other arm and leg extended backward. In the 1890s the British artist Walter Sickert visited Degas in his studio and was shown the wax model for this …


Rethinking The Romans: New Views Of Ancient Sculpture, Georgina E. Borromeo Jan 2001

Rethinking The Romans: New Views Of Ancient Sculpture, Georgina E. Borromeo

Journals

Exhibition Notes, Number 13, 2001. This gallery guide has been created to accompany the exhibition Rethinking the Romans: New Views of Ancient Sculpture at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). The installation presents RISD’s exceptional Roman sculpture collection in light of new scholarship, which stresses meaning, use, and context within Roman culture. Includes six short essays.