100 YEARS OF SCULPTURE: FROM THE PEDESTAL TO THE PIXEL entrance | gallery one | gallery two | gallery three

GALLERY ONE: THE FOREST OF PEDESTALS Throughout the history of sculpture, artists have explored ways to represent the human image. FIGURATIVE sculpture is one of the oldest known art forms, and in the 20th century, the human figure has remained a compelling subject. As you walk into Gallery 1, you will see a large pedestal with four female figures in the far right corner. Elie Nadelman's Figure (circa 1925), an idealized, classical beauty carved from marble, is among them. The other sculptures, all made from bronze, include Aristide Maillol's Study for La Mediterranée (circa 1905), Gerhard Marcks' Mélusine III (1949/1951), and Alexander Archipenko's Turning Torso (1921/1959).

Nadelman, Elie Figure Maillol, Aristide Study for La Mediterranée Marcks, Gerhard Mélusine III Archipenko, Alexander Turning Torso
		Near these sculptures, you will see George Segal's Woman Brushing Her Hair on Green Chair(1964), a POP ART rendition of the nude female form. In making this piece, Segal used a live model and cast her form in plaster-coated gauze. Immediately behind this work is an even more contemporary interpretation of the figure as seen in the installation My Father's Nudes (1989) by Minneapolis-based artist Dorit Cypis. She uses a domestic Victorian table as the pedestal to display photographs of classical female nude sculptures. Cypis APPROPRIATES traditional forms--the pedestal and the figure--to make the viewer think of the difference between classical nudes viewed in public and photographs of these same figures in a private setting.
Pablo Picasso Le Fou (The Jester) Rudolf Belling Kopf in Messing (Head in Brass) Joan Miró Tête et Oiseau (Head and Bird) Claes Oldenburg Geometric Mouse- Scale C
		On the left wall near the stairs there is a long pedestal with four heads that each interpret the figure quite differently. The earliest of these, Pablo Picasso's Le Fou (The Jester) (1905) is a relatively realistic portrayal of a character type sculpted with a textured surface. Rudolf Belling's Kopf in Messing (Head in Brass) (1925) consists of very severe, smooth, almost machinelike forms. Joan Miró's Tête et Oiseau (Head and Bird) (1967) juxtaposes a delicately molded trident balanced on an unformed head which, in turn, rests on its own mini-pedestal. Claes Oldenburg's Geometric Mouse-Scale C (1971) presents this Pop artist's interpretation of Walt Disney's famous cartoon character composed of flat, geometric planes. (This is a model for the full-sized work found outside on the Gallery 8 terrace.) 100 YEARS OF SCULPTURE: FROM THE PEDESTAL TO THE PIXEL entrance | gallery one | gallery two | gallery three View artworks of this gallery not seen in QTVR © 1998 Walker Art Center