Saturday, 24 September 2016

Sculpture artists


Task 2: Significance sculpture artist and their sculpture



   We were asked to find 3 sculpture artists and describe about their biography, significant sculpture, and methods of producing their sculpture. The artists I have chosen are Rodin, Constantin Brancusi and Michealangalo.
   Francois Auguste Rene Rodin also known as Rodin was a French artist and sculptor who born in Paris on November 12, 1840. He received his education at Petite Ecole. He died on November 17, 1917 in Meudon, France. His father was a police inspector named Jean-Baptiste Rodin and his mother named Marie Cheffer. He had one sister, Maria. Some of his famous works are ‘The Age of Bronze (1876)’, ’The Thinker’ (1880), ‘The Kiss’, ‘The Gate of Hell (1880)’ and so on. His most of the work uses the materials such as bronze, marble, plaster, clay to illustrate human forms.
   His one of the famous artwork is ‘The Thinker’ which represents Dante the poet who composed the epic poem of 1321, ‘The Divine Comedy’. According to Cleveland Museum, this sculpture is the symbol of freedom and knowledge. The sculpture captures human emotion and the way the sculpture is sitting and thinking shows the unique character of human being, which distinguish him from an animal. Human has ability to think and comes out with a knowledge or solution for a problem. Other than that, the posture and muscular shoulder with back shows confident, strength and high esteem of the thinker, makes this sculpture significant.

Figure 1.1 The Thinker, Rodin (National Gallery of Art, 2016)


Title: Making of bronze sculpture
Materials: bronze, earth-clay, plaster, wax, chisel, carving knife, varnish
Method: ‘lost wax method’ (direct casting)
Steps:   
1) Create a model of sculpture in earth-clay.
2) Cover the clay sculpture in uniform layers of wax which until desired thickness of
   ultimate bronze is reached and must be greater than 1/8 inch. Pin the wax with    
   small metal pins into the core to suspend it securely.
3) Add another thicker layer of mixture of plaster of Paris. Make vent opening and
   incorporate with modeled wax before applying the outer core.
4) Bake the mass at a high temperature for about a day to melt away the wax and  
   to bake the mold and core dry and compact.
5) Pour the molten bronze to fill the empty space between the core and mold.
6)  Let the bronze to solidify and cool down.
7) Remove the metallic form from the model, and rake out the core.
8)File away the metal pins and clean the bronze surface. Rip off the extra bronze
near the openings either by beating with a chasing hammer or carving. Add
bronze patches wherever necessary to close the cracks.
9) Polish the metal with an acid solution for the removal of dirt, and ‘fire-skin’, and
   then neutralize it with alkaline solution after work is done.
10) Carry out the chasing method with striking surface pointed at the area to be
   chased and light mallet. Add fine details by carving the metal surface
11) Varnish the yellowish bronze to darker hue.

   Another famous sculptor is Constantin Brancusi. He was a French-Romanian photographer and sculptor born in Romania on 19 February, 1876. He was getting education at School of Arts and Crafts (1893) and Bucharest's National School of Fine Arts (1898-1902). He died on 16 March, 1957. Some of his famous artworks are Sleeping Muse I (1990), Endless Column (1918), Fish (1926), Torso of a Young Man (1917) and many more.
   Brancusi worked directly with his materials, pioneering the technique of direct carving, rather than working with intermediaries such as plaster or clay models. The materials Brancusi used were primarily marble, stone, bronze, wood, and metal. One of his famous sculpture is Torso of a Young Man. This was the first sculpture carved by him in a wood. It shows the more abstract and geometrical tendency and a great sensitivity in the modeling of the belly and thighs.


                                    Figure 1.2: Torso of a young man,Brancusi (flickr, 2006)

Title: Making of wooden sculpture
Materials: chisel, maple wood
Method and technique: Substractive method/ chiseling/direct carving
Steps:
1) Carry out the seasoning by keeping the wood in a dry and cool place before starting to carve to avoid decaying and cracking of wood.
2) Clamp the wood securely by means of bench or table.
3) Draw outline of the sculpture.
4) Use a sharp chisel to produce the shape and carving on wood
5) Clean the surface of wood by cloth or sandpaper to smooth the edges.
6) Polish the surface and varnish it.

 Furthermore, another famous sculptor is Michelangelo, also known as Michelangelo Buanarroti, ‘Father and Master of All of Arts’. He was a painter, architect, poet and sculptor. He was born on 6 March 1475 in Italy and died on 16 February 1564. He was most famous artist of the Italian Renaissance, and well known for the works ‘David’ and Pieta.
  His one of the famous sculpture is Pieta which was created around 1498. This sculpture describes Mary holding the dead Jesus on her lap. It was so significant in a way of emotional expression and compassion of Mary towards Jesus. He emphasized on making the sculpture that give calm, and positive mood instead of painful emotions. The body of Jesus is cradled lovingly and peacefully.  It was also only carved on a single piece of Carrara marble and every hair, fabric and skin has its own texture, making it a famous masterpiece.


                                            Figure 1.3: Pieta (Art and the Bible, 2016)

Title: Making of marble sculpture
Materials: Carrara Marble, hammer, chisel, riffler
Method: Substractive method,
Steps:
1) Make outline on the marble
2) Rough out the marble by removing large about of unwanted stone.
3) Use chisel to carve on marble
4) Use riffler to add fine details and to smooth out the chisel marks
5)Use the file to remove the riffler mark
6)Use wet diamond sandpaper to make the surface smooth. Let it dry
7)Polish the surface. Final touch is made by using mixture of warm water and oxalic acid and rub on rough surfaces.
  
References:
  • Biography.com Editors, (2015), Auguste Rodin Biography, A&E Television Networks [online], available at: http://www.biography.com/people/auguste-rodin-9461735  [accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •  Rodin Museum, n.d, About Auguste Rodin, [online] Available at: http://www.rodinmuseum.org/collections/collectiontheme/6.html [accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •     The Cleveland Museum of Art, n.d, Rodin’s Thinker, [online],Available at : https://www.clevelandart.org/research/in-the-library/collection-in-focus/rodins-thinker [accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •     Zavalckzi.N, Scupture,n.d, techniques of ‘the thinker’ statue, [online],Available at: http://entertainmentguide.local.com/sculpture-techniques-the-thinker-statue-10070.html [accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •     The art story,nd, Constantin bracusi,[online] Available at : http://www.theartstory.org/artist-brancusi-constantin.htm[ accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •     The art story,nd, Constantin bracusi ,[online] Available at : http://www.theartstory.org/artist-brancusi-constantin-artworks.htm [accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •  Philadelphia museum of art,n.d., Collections, [online]  Available at: http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/51091.html [accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •     Rich.J, (1988),The Materials and Method of Sculpture, Courier Corporation,[e-book], Available at:https://books.google.com.my/books?id=nW9cRi5WAX4C&pg=PA298&lpg=PA298amp;dq=maple+wood+chiseling+method+sculpture&source=bl&ots=Tn8gylmdOn&sig=WNdBbd4qAlAjVoGGo_Tugjks6kY&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=bronze&f=false [accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •     Biography.com Editors, (2015), Michelangelo Biography, A&E Television Networks, [online], available at: http://www.biography.com/people/michelangelo-9407628 [accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •     Muscato.C,n.d, La pieta by Michelangelo:The analysis and overview,available at: http://study.com/academy/lesson/la-pieta-by-michelangelo-sculpture-analysis-lesson-quiz.html[accessed on 24 September 2016]
  •     Paul.J,(2008), Carving marble with traditional tool,[video]available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWUuGDovHEI[accessed on 24 September 2016]





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