Auguste Rodin, The Thinker, 1879-1887, bronze, 27½” high, Musée Rodin, Paris, Photo by Gertjan R., Creative Commons Attribution license via Wikimedia Commons.
Patina (noun) A colored film on the surface of a metal sculpture. Sometimes the patina appears over time as a result of the oxidation process and other times artists create the color with a wash of chemicals. Rodin developed his … Continue reading
Aullus Metellus, early 1st century BCE, Bronze, 5’9”, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Perhaps the Romans were not the most original artists, but they really knew how to work with what they borrowed. This is the first Roman emperor, Augustus, which means, “Supreme Ruler.” He was the grandnephew and adopted son of Julius … Continue reading
Gianlorenzo Bernini, The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, 1645-1652, marble, life-size, Coronaro Cahpel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. Photo from Flickr available under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
This is a little awkward. This spiritual event looks like something altogether different.
West portal, tympanum with Last Judgment by Gislebertus, Cathedral of Saint-Lazare, c. 1120-1135, Atun France. Photo by Henri Moreau, Creative Commons license, via Wikimedia Commons.
This is not a threat. This is a promise. The reason the photograph above of this tympanum over a portal (sculpture in the space over the doorway) is so good is because it shows how ominous this sculpture appears to … Continue reading
Sculptures from the east pediment of the Parthenon, c. 438-432 B.C.E., marble, over life-size, The British Museum, photo by Andrew Dunn under a Creative Commons Attribution license via Wikimedia Commons.
The recent news about the economic and political crisis in Greece brings to mind the controversy surrounding the Parthenon Marbles. The Parthenon Marbles are the classical Greek sculptures by Pheidias and his workshop that originally were part of the Parthenon … Continue reading
Queen Nefertiti, c. 1348-1336/5 BCE, Limestone, 19” high, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Ägyptisches Museum. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
This sculpture of Queen Nefertiti of ancient Egypt is arresting because she is beautiful in the twenty-first-century sense of the word. She easily could be on the cover of Vogue. Her set jaw and her large almond-shaped eyes that gaze … Continue reading
Donald Judd, Ohne Titel (Stack), 1968-69. Photo by Oliver Kurmis under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Many people find Minimalist art inaccessible, but that is precisely the point. You are not supposed to read anything into the work of art. Minimalist art literally and figuratively reflects out toward a viewer, activating the space around it, creating … Continue reading
© 2011 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
Everyone recognizes this lady who lost her arms. The heavy marble limbs probably fell off hundreds of years ago. She a big lady too, standing over six and a half feet tall. Because she was created in ancient Greece, probably … Continue reading