Yale University and Yale University Art Gallery are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Bulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale. http://www.jstor.org Yale University Sculpture since Rodin Author(s): Lamont Moore Source: Bulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale, Vol. 17, No. 1, Sculpture since Rodin (Jan ., 1949) Published by: , acting through the Yale University Yale University Art Gallery Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40513674 Accessed: 12-08-2015 21:07 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. This content downloaded from 83.137.211.198 on Wed, 12 Aug 2015 21:07:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
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Yale University and Yale University Art Gallery are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toBulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale.
http://www.jstor.org
Yale University
Sculpture since Rodin Author(s): Lamont Moore Source: Bulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale, Vol. 17, No. 1, Sculpture since Rodin (Jan
., 1949)Published by: , acting through the Yale University Yale University Art GalleryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40513674Accessed: 12-08-2015 21:07 UTC
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
This content downloaded from 83.137.211.198 on Wed, 12 Aug 2015 21:07:29 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Auguste Rodin, the great French sculptor, sketched his "Gate of Hell/7 he
placed "The Thinker" over the double doors. This figure, made famous by repetitions large and small, became the sculptor's most noted work, typical of him in that it was a bronze depicting an heroic form. Rodin, as the inheri- tor of sculptural ages before him, the Greek and Roman, the Gothic and the Renaissance, combined ideas from the past with those of his own and his period so that he stands as the expression of his sculptural age. Let us imagine that his figure of "The Thinker" symbolized the art of sculpture at the turn of the century, sculpture like one of its favored subjects, Hercules, in this case debating at the cross- roads the course he was to follow.
As the history of sculpture in the twenti- eth century has proven, broadly stated, it chose to travel three roads: sculpture devel-
oped around natural forms, sculpture de-
veloped away from natural forms, and
sculpture developed out of form, space, color, motion. The first represents the type which we know best: sculpture which presents usually the human figure, recognizable as such, whether it was serenely "classic" as in the work of Despiau, Maillol, Kolbe and Nadelman, expressive of emotion in the German group of Barlach and Marcks, or idealized and made
mysterious in the work of Lehmbruch; the
arrangement and weight, the masses of the human body formed the core of this sculpture, with surfaces smooth for the light to caress, or ridged and broken for the light to strike. More recent and contemporary sculptors have chosen to invest their works with varying char- acteristics, ebullient, grotesque, humorous or the seriously emotional, and in this group we find Lachaise, Robus, Laurent and Rox. That these sculptors have extended the possibilities of adherence to natural form and at the same time maintained the traditions inherited from the past is proof that this kind of sculpture has
by no means become quiescent. The middle road, sculpture developed
away from natural forms even so far as to reach a point of complete abstraction, in-
cludes the largest number of recent and contemporary sculptors, some of whom have chosen to follow this road the entire way, others only so far and then developed their style at that particular point.
The flattened planes, a tendency toward angularity, show the beginnings in such work as Underwood's. These find more developed expression in the sculpture related to cubist painting, the frankly geometric and assembled elements of Archipenko and Pevsner, the glyptic early Lipchitz and Zadkine. Quite different from the squared facets of the Lipchitz, Flannagan's rugged treatment of his stone produces a timeless aspect in his work. These two pieces illustrate the importance of the material in the eyes of the modern sculp- tor, how it may be treated in different ways and yet preserve its own character whether it is stone, metal or plastic. In contrast, the later pieces by Lipchitz are explosive, ener- getic, further along the way toward complete abstraction which is reached in diverse forms by Brancusi, Storrs, Hare and Noguchi. In fact, the word "diverse" might be applied to the work of these sculptors who have followed the middle road, obviously not a conservative well-worn path, but leading to enlarged expe- rience of forms as seen in nature.
Sculpture developed out of form and
space is a comparatively recent manifestation in the history of art. Followers of this third road employ elements hitherto unused, or pre- viously used only as contributing factors. One of these elements is space calculated in pro- portion to the tangible elements in the sculp- ture. Whether these compositions of space and matter are devised in terms of precision as in the work of Gabo, in terms of color as in the work of de Rivera, in terms of color and motion as in the work of Calder, or in terms of
expression as in the work of Lipton, space and form are closely interrelated and considered of equal importance. Such pieces of sculpture to a greater or lesser degree follow laws cur- rent in contemporary architectural design and indicate possibilities for future integration of
sculpture with the mother of the arts.
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The work of one artist may fall into sev- eral divisions, may show constant develop- ment and in some cases relate to all three of the approaches to sculpture herein, of neces- sity, briefly and categorically presented. As examples of sculpture which exhibit combined elements sufficiently defined to be readily sensed, the works of Moore and Callery may be cited. Both use the subject of recognizable human form, in the case of Moore, impos- ingly - though the scale is sometimes small, the effect aims toward grandeur and im- pressiveness. In the case of Callery the linear, rhythmic elements produce an effect of gaiety and humor no less valid for a sculptural work. Both sculptors simplify the human form to a point where it approaches abstraction. Both use space consciously, Callery in an expansive
way, Moore in a restrained way. Thus these two artists combine the current trends in sculpture as do many others presented in the exhibition.
In planning this exhibition, most appro- priately but inexorably, space has presented a problem. The artists represented could have been more comprehensively shown if unlimited space were available, and there are many sculptors omitted whose works, for the same reason, might well have been presented. It is hoped that they will be included in future exhibitions and that the present one will in- crease awareness of the intent, techniques, and aesthetics of contemporary sculpture, thereby creating a more perceptive audience for sculpture of the future.
LAMONT MOORE
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