Masterworks of Sculpted Portraiture
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Works by Jo
Davidson
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Works by Karen Newman
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I've included
this section below of portrait work by sculptors mostly
active during the 20's, 30’s and 40's. A period I
believe of special significance when it seems there was
a revived interest in sculpture, and also in direct carving,
particularly in Britain.
There was also a change of attitude towards
material, looking for and using its inherent qualities
rather than merely imposing the sculpture upon it. |
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Portraits of ‘Haili Salasi’ and ‘Charles
Laughton’
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The portrait of Haili Salasi (left) was carved from wood
and has the primitive qualities of an African mask and yet
manages
to maintain a strong image of the great man, as does the
Charles Laughton head (above), but in a more realistic way
and yet with a stylization redolent of the Art Deco movement
of the
time. Both of these portraits by Sava Botzaris
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Portraits of ‘Bronsky’ and ‘Ezra
Pound’
The man with the moustache, ‘Bronsky’, modeled
and cast in bronze, and ‘Ezra Pound’ carved
in stone, were sculpted by Gaudier-Brzeska.
He suddenly dropped painting in favour of sculpture,
and left an
extraordinary and wonderful collection of powerful work
before being killed at the age of 23 in the first world
war.
The Greeks had a word for statue which meant simply ‘a
thing of delight’
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Frank
Dobson’s portrait
of Osbert Sitwell / Maurice Lambert’s portrait of Edith
Sitwell
Osbert
Sitwell was sculpted by Frank Dobson,
His sister, Edith by Maurice Lambert. Both suggest
the age of machine made things and also reflect the influence
of Deco
and yet in their highly stylized manner, are nevertheless
strong portraits. |
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David McFall’s
portrait of Atlee
Clay,
the most malleable of materials one can do just about anything,
(sometimes
too much!).
However it
can be handled thoughtfully and expressively and placed
and modeled meaningfully, using finger and tools, rather
than smeared and gouged. This is an exceptional example. |
Andrew O’Conner’s
portrait of Lord D’Abernon
An
even looser approach to surface modeling where one can
almost feel the flourish in the handling of
the clay.
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Marion Walton ‘Man’s
Head’
Carved in African wonder stone and the featuresand hair merely incised on the
surface to great effect.
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Portrait
of ‘Pr.William of Sweden’
by
Stig Blomberg
One
of a number of excellent Scandinavian sculptors of this
era. |
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‘Bruno
Giacometti’ 1929 & ‘ Diego’ by
Giacometti 1955
The
Artist’s brothers.
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‘James
Joyce' by Sava Botzaris
Marble version
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‘George
Bernard Shaw’ by Sava Botzaris Exhibited 1938
The artist here employed a different style of modeling
again, with a definite ‘Victorian feel’ about
it. Rather appropriate for the great writer, most definitely
a true
Victorian.
Sava Botzaris was born in Belgrade, lived in Italy and France
before settling in London in 1920. In 1941 he emigrated to
Venezuela.
Quote from Guadier-Brzeska: "Civilization
begins with sculpture and ends with it".
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