Barbara Hepworth, Pelagos, 1946. Tate. As so often, things have turned out to be more complicated than I expected – and that refers not just to today’s post, but also to what, exactly, I’m going to be doing in September. This much is settled: on Monday 22 August I will be giving a talk entitledContinue reading “166 – From C- to Sea”
Category Archives: Sculpture
165 – Sculpture Ban
Naum Gabo, Revolving Torsion, Fountain, 1972-3. Tate, on loan to St Thomas’ Hospital, London. OK, I’m not suggesting that art has been censored here, but as a fantastic embodiment of Naum Gabo’s art, his Revolving Torsion, Fountain, on long term loan from Tate to St Thomas’ Hospital, has probably been switched off in line withContinue reading “165 – Sculpture Ban”
162 – Betrayal Redeemed
Cornelia Parker, Thirty Pieces of Silver, 1988. Tate. Given that my current series of talks is called Looking in Different Ways, Cornelia Parker, about whom I will be talking this Monday, 18 July at 6pm, is a perfect choice. She sees the world in such a completely different way to most artists, and, with allContinue reading “162 – Betrayal Redeemed”
Some Virtues
Andrea del Verrocchio, Model for the Funeral Monument for Cardinal Niccolò Forteguerri, c. 1476, Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The Sculpture course Form, Function, Material and Memory is rapidly drawing to a close. The last talk will be this Monday 27 June at 6pm, when we will consider Memory – Something to Remember. This will look atContinue reading “Some Virtues”
Psyche, a coda (a repeat)
Antonio Canova, Psyche revived by Cupid’s Kiss, 1787-93, Louvre, Paris. So far in my series on sculpture I haven’t mentioned Antonio Canova, although I will this Monday, 20 June at 6.00pm, when I will discuss the very substance of art (or, at least, the different substances from which sculpture is made), in a talk entitled Material:Continue reading “Psyche, a coda (a repeat)”
159 – Michelangelo, holding a candle…
Michelangelo Buonarroti, Angel, 1494-5. San Domenico, Bologna. You would think that no one could hold a candle to Michelangelo – but everyone has to start somewhere, and the young sculptor must have learnt from someone. Indeed, today’s work is an example of the young genius responding – directly and overtly – to someone else’s work,Continue reading “159 – Michelangelo, holding a candle…”
158 – Never forget…
Gianlorenzo Bernini, An Elephant with an Obelisk, 1665. Piazza della Minerva, Rome. This is the sculpture I was going to write about last week, before I ran out of time. Like Apollo and Daphne, it is a perfect introduction to the forthcoming course which starts this Monday 6 June, Sculpture: Form, Function, Material and Memory.Continue reading “158 – Never forget…”
Back to the Chase
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, 1622-25, Museo Borghese, Rome. It’s got to that stage… I was wondering what to blog about this week as an introduction to my new lecture series, Sculpture: Form, Function, Material and Memory and I realised that a great choice would be Bernini’s astonishing Apollo and Daphne. Indeed, I was rather surprisedContinue reading “Back to the Chase”
156 – Second helpings at the Feast
Donatello, The Feast of Herod, 1423-7. Baptismal Font, Battistero di San Giovanni Battista, Siena. ‘Please, sir, I want some more.’ OK, so it seems extremely unlikely that these words, said by Oliver Twist in the eponymous novel by Charles Dickens, and so often misquoted, nor indeed anything like them, would ever have been uttered atContinue reading “156 – Second helpings at the Feast”
154 – A Feast for the eyes
Donatello, The Feast of Herod, 1423-7. Baptismal Font, Battistero di San Giovanni Battista, Siena. The Donatello exhibition in Florence is truly remarkable, an astonishing achievement, given that sculptures have been transported from churches and cathedrals across Italy, including several which have left their original settings for the first time since they were installed. Others haveContinue reading “154 – A Feast for the eyes”
dr richard stemp 