Artist Research
Michelangelo
Bio
Michaelangelo Buonarroti was born to a poor family in Caprese Italy but grew up in Florence where he became an apprentice to Ghirlandaio at the age of 13. Under Ghirlandaio, he learned drawing and fresco painting in the classical movement. Michelangelo is most often recognized for his paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. However, he was a sculptor by trade working in marble, creating famous pieces like Pieta and David.
What medium or media did the artist work with?
Michelangelo mainly worked in marble. As is shown in the two sculptures here. Pieta was a commissioned piece for Old St. Peter's Basilica by the French Cardinal Jean de Bilheres in c 1500. Pieta measures 5' 8 '1/2" tall and 6' 5" wide.
David was finished in 1504 and was commissioned by the city government of Florence.
Why did I choose these works?
I chose these two cultures because of their beauty and accuracy. When we look at Michelangelo’s David it is almost impossible not to confuse the figure with a real person. We expect that if David were to take a couple of steps back with his left foot his knees, ankles, and feet would automatically match up like a real human. We do not bother realizing the accuracy and precise artisanship that went into the perfect symmetry of the statue to give us that illusion.
In Pieta, the viewer can see the minute details of the veins in Christ's arm. I have always had a fascination with the fine details in Michelangelo’s sculptures.
What connects the artist/ artwork to our class or current project?
These two pieces relate to our class because of anatomical accuracy. I believe as beginning sculptors we strive to reach such accuracy with our sculptures. The study of our foot sculpture is to create the most accurate representation of our own foot.
Pieta
David
Les Voyageurs
Bruno Catalano
Bio
Bruno Catalano was born in Khouribga Morocco in 1960 to a Sicilian family. His family was excited from Morrocco and settled in France in 1970. Catalano learned sculpting in Marseille, France in 1981 from Françoise Hamel's modeling classes. Catalano opened his own practice in 1985.
What medium or media did the artist work with?
Catalano works with bronze. Les Voyagers was one of several pieces commissioned by the city of Marseille eight billion-dollar investment in 2013 to beautify the city and earn the city the title of European Capital of Culture.
Etude Vincent Van Gogh is a 35" tall bronze sculpture that was created in 2009 for private auction.
Why did I choose these works?
I chose these works because of character, and composition. The eye-catching use of negative space was the first thing that allured me to these sculptures. Then after reading about the meaning behind the pieces I liked them more. Bruno Catalano is saying when we leave on a trip we some part of us behind we are not complete and because it's Vincent Van Gogh.
What connects the artist/ artwork to our class or current project?
The connection these two pieces have to the class is that as sculptors we must remember that sculpting is not just the positive but also the use of negative space. I think that is something that we all forget to realize quite often, we become so focused on the main piece that we fail to think about how we could use the space around it to make something more eyecatching.
.
Family Group
Henry Moore
Bio
Henry Moore was born in Castleford, United Kingdom in 1898 to mining parents Moore was the seventh oldest child among eight children. Henry Moore learned sculpting at Leed's School of Art in 1919. In 1921 Moore won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London where he furthered his skill. In 1924 Moore became an instructor at the Royal College and stayed there until 1931.
What medium or media did the artist work with?
Henry worked with stone, wood, and bronze creating his famous semi-abstract sculptures. Family Group was created on commission for the Barclay Secondary School in Stevenage in 1950. Family Group was cast four times, one is at Barclay Secondary School the other three are at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Recumbent Figure was created for architect Serge Chermayeff in 1938. The Recumbent Figure is made out of three blocks of Green Hornton stone.
Why did I choose these works?
I chose these two works because of movement, and lines. Henry Moore like Bruno Catalano had a talent for using negative space so remarkably. Moore sculptures seem to move and lean just by his use of their poses. In the Family Group above you can almost see the mother wrestling with her child to sit still. In Recumbent Figure, you can see the figure lean back lazily possibly even rock back and forth.
What connects the artist/ artwork to our class or current project?
The connection these two pieces have to the class is that these are wonderful examples of abstract and spiritual art. I believe abstract is teaching us to view the world around us differently not just so literal. Moore's figure seems to have been influenced by Mayan art.
.jpg)
Recumbent Figure
Torso of a Giant
Jean Arp
Bio
Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp is later known as Jean Arp was born in Strasbourg, France to French and German parents in 1886. Arp was educated at Ecole des Arts et Metiers until 1904. Arp later studied at Weimar Germany and Academie Julian in Paris. In 1912 he co-founded the Modern Alliance. An association of artists working in modern art. Arp became one of the founders of the Dada movement in 1916. Besides being a sculptor and later moved on to surrealism in 1925, Jean Arp was also a painter and poet.
What medium or media did the artist work with?
Jean made sculptures from plaster, stone, and bronze. Torso of a Giant was created in 1964 in bronze. The sculpture dimensions are 49"x34"x35" .Torso of a Giant is currently on display at the Detriot Institude of Arts.
Winged Being was created in plaster in 1961 and was kept in the Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach's (Jean Arp's widow) private collection until 1975. Winged Being is currently displayed at Tate Modern Museum of London.
Why did I choose these works?
I chose these two works because of its fluid shapes and form. Jean Arp's sculptures were surreal and rarely resembled the subject. Arp executed strong feelings and mean in his figures. Winged Being seem to be either in mid flight or pearched on it's pedestal in mid-wing spread. Both sculptures caught my eye with their smooth shapes.
What connects the artist/ artwork to our class or current project?
The these two pieces connect to the class is that these composition and pose can deliver a powerful sculpture no matter how much it may differ from the original subject. Surrealism can give an artist plenty of freedom to express his/herself.
Winged Being
Remedios Varo
Celestial Pabulum
Bio
Maria de los Remedios Alicia Rodriga Varo y Uranga was born in Angeles Spain in 1908. Varo learned to draw from her father who was an engineer. Varo was educated in a strict Catholic school until the age of 15 when she was enrolled in the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Madrid.
Upon graduating from art school she moved to Paris 1938. Varo spent most of her adult life moving around. Varo left Paris in 1940 to flee the Nazi invasion of France and because of her political, anarchist views. Remedios settled in Mexico and remained there until her death in 1963.
What medium or media did the artist work with?
Remedios Varo was a surrealist painter who worked with watercolor on paper and oil on masonite. Celestial Pabulum or the Celestial Food was created in 1958 shortly after Varo arrived in Mexico and is now located in a private collection.
Dolor Rheumatico or Rheumatic Pain I also created in 1948 also shortly after Remedios arrived in Mexico. The painting is oil on canvas.
Why did I choose these works?
I chose the Celestial Pabulum because of the caged moon. When Remedios Varo arrived in Mexico she was not welcomed by the art community. I believe Varo must have felt lonely and trapped being a stranger from a foreign land and not knowing anyone. I incorporate the same feelings in my latest mixed media sculpture often feeling lonely and trapped in the same way as a kid. Dolores Reumatico I is another example of the loneliness Remedios must have felt when she first arrived in Mexico. The pillars in the painting resemble a cage then woman is trapped in.
What connects the artist/ artwork to our class or current project?
The these two pieces connect to the class is meaning behind the artwork. Although Remedios working in oil and canvas a sculpture can also express a feeling of loneliness or entrapment just as well as a painting . Remedios composed her painting to represent a hard and lonely time in here life that resembles what most of the class has chosen to do with their own sculpture, to represent a personal time in each of our lives .
Dolor Reumatico I
Louise Bourgeois
Bio
Louise Josephine Bourgeois was born in Paris France in 1911. Louise was known for her sculptures but was also a painter and print maker. Louise was a middle child to her older sister and her younger brother. Louise Bourgeois was educated by a private British tutor who taught her English. Louise mother in 1932 around the same time that Louise was receiving her Baccalaurette in Philosophy from Lycee Fenelon in Paris.Louise Bourgeois took classes from the Academie de Grande-Chaumiere, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the Ecole du Louvre and studied under Ferdenand Leger. Louise married her husband the artist Robert Goldwater and moved to New York in 1938. In the 1940s and 50s Louise exhibited her work with famous American artists like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning. Louise Bourgeois career span fro the 1940s until her death in 2010.
What medium or media did the artist work with?
Louise Bourgeois was made famous as sculptor of large metal sculptures, however, Bourgeois worked in many mixed media from plaster, stone, cloth, marble oil and canvas to bronze and print making. In and Out was created in 1995 out of metal,glass, plaster, fabric, and plastic. The sculpture is located at the Easton Foundation as part of their collection.
Wioven Child is a prime example of Louise Bourgeois style. The Woven Child is made of metal cages, needles, stuffed heads and a giant metal spider that demonstrates the mixed media that Bourgeois perfered.
Why did I choose these works?
I chose these two sculpture because of its shapes and form. The cages in the sculpture are an element that I am using to make a statement as well. Both sculptures give a sense of entrapment. The cages either hold in or out elements of her design. Louise suffered a lot of loss in her life to which I can relate.
What connects the artist/ artwork to our class or current project?
The these two pieces connect to the class is that the use of mixed media that we will be creating our sculpture. Louise Bourgeois showed the art world that sculpture could be expressed in many media nit just metal.
Woven Child
In and Out
Alberto Giacometti
Bio
Alberto Giocometti was born in Borgonovo, Switzerland on October 10, 1901. In 1919 he left school to attend art classes in Geneva. From 1919to 1921 Giocometti traveled to Venice, Padua, Florence and Rome. Around the same time Alberto Giocometti discovered Egyptian art to would forever influence his style. From 1922 to 1925 while living in Paris he studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere. Giocometti developed his Surrealistic style around 1930. In 1940, like Remedios Varo, Giacometti left France to escape the Nazi invasion. Giacometti arrived in Geneva where he stayed until 1946. Giacometti reached fame in the United States in 1950,however, his fame spread internationally when he was award the Grand Prize for sculpture at the Venice Bienale in 1962. Giacometti died only four years later at the age of 65 in Switzerland.
What medium or media did the artist work with?
Alberto Giacometti was made famous for his metal sculptures but he was also painter and printmaker. Le Nez was created in 1947 in bronze although Giacometti would change and alter the design several times until settling on a final design in 1964. The final design of Le Nez or The Nose was cast in bronze and changes from a metal cage with a rope it is in the care of The Alberto et Annette Giocometti Foundtion in Paris France.
The Cage was concieved in 1949 -1950, but this version was not cast until 1991, its
dimensions are 35,62 x 14,37 x 13,38 in.
This version of the cage no sits In a private collection.
Why did I choose these works?
I chose these two works because of Giocometti's use of the cages and the grotesque image of the mask in Le Nez. In the Sculpture Le Nez Alberto was draining the energy from the viewer and giving them the feeling of sadness and meloncholy.
What connects the artist/ artwork to our class or current project?
The these two pieces connect to the class in that these use of space and imagery. But further more Alberto Giacometti is one most influential scupltors of all times that every art should learn about.
Le Nez
The Cage
Frida Kahlo
Bio
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo was born in Coyoacan, Mexico City July 6, 1907 to German father and a Mexican mother. Frida Kahlo had always aspired to be a doctor an took mostly courses in biology and anatomy while in school. Kahlo suffered a debilitating injuries from a trolley car accident when she was 18 years old. Kahlo would suffer great pain and disability from her injuries fro the rest of her life. Fridah began to become involved with the communist party where she met Diego Rivera Mexican murial painter who had began to gain fame. Kahlo and Rivera married on August 1, 1929. However Rivera would prove to be unfaithful through all of their marriage with was the inspiration for most of Frida's paintings. Kahlo would go on to paint more than 200 works of art in Surrealism and Magic Realism during her life all while being a non academic artist. Frida Kahlo died July 13 1954.
What medium or media did the artist work with?
Fridan Kahlo worked in oil paints on masonite. Kahlo was known for her surrealist painting style that where always based on her personal tragedies.
La Columna Rota was created in 1944 in oil on masonite. The sculpture dimensions are 15.7"x12". La Columna Rota sold at Christie'sTorso of a Giant for .05 million dollars in 2021.
Las Dos Fridas was painted in 1939 after she had divorced Diego Rivera. The Two Fridas is a self portrait about the deuality of Frida's double race. Frida struggled with her birace all her life.
Why did I choose these works?
These two painting are among my favorites by Frida Kahlo. . I could relate to Frida she lived a tragic life, my life was no where near as difficult her, I associated with the pain she lived in her life. Most of Frida's pain came from her accident with the trolley and Diego Rivera. Fridah was quoted as saying " There have been two great accidents in my life..One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst."
What connects the artist/ artwork to our class or current project?
The these two pieces connect to the class with how relatable Frida was her suffering. I believe anyone who has suffered and loss. or has suffered a grave accident in their life can empathize with what Fridah was going through. Fridah Kahlo was not afraid to express herself or her misery through her art. Kahlo was a strong willed woman with a stubborn spirit and tough as nails.
La Columna Rota
Las Dos Fridas
