Sculpture

> ![](media/image1.jpeg){width="0.7701388888888889in"
> height="8.461805555555555in"}
>
> **Unit 3**

When one speaks of sculpture today, works in a variety of materials come
to mind because the parameters of \"sculpture\" have been vastly
expanded. Mobiles, stabiles, installations and assemblages are all
included as forms of sculpture and each may be made out of a variety of
materials. The sculpture made by Augustus Saint-Gaudens follows the
traditional approach of modeling in clay. It is this process which is
explored in the lessons of Unit 3.

> **Goals:**

-   Students will be able to **identify sculptural terms and types of
    traditional**

> **sculpture**.

-   Students will **research and write a short, biographical paper** of
    one of the Cornish Colony sculptors (refer to "The Cornish Colony: A
    List of Members" handout). *Footprints of the Past, Circle of
    Friends*, and the CD‑ROM will be essential.

-   Students will learn how **Saint‑Gaudens and Cornish Colony sculptors
    worked.**

-   Students will **learn about the process of modeling in clay** and
    can **try the process** themselves in related Activities 4, 5, and
    6.

> **Objective:**
>
> This unit involves art history, research and writing, note taking and
> observation applied to analytical skills and hands‑on experience with
> clay.
>
> *Supports NH English Language Arts Uses, especially Curriculum
> Standards #5, #6 and #7 (to grade level) and NH Framework for the
> Arts, especially Curriculum Standard #4: analyze the visual arts in
> relation to history and culture,* p.40.
>
> **Instructional Strategies:**

-   **Guided Discussion:** The teacher will lead a discussion about
    sculpture, introducing students to terms and processes. As the list
    of glossary words develops from the discussion, the teacher will
    write them on the blackboard or on chart paper for later reference.
    (Use the "What Have You Learned?" worksheet to confirm student
    knowledge.)

-   **Video:** Students will watch *Wax Blood/ Bronze Skin* (26 min.)
    about the **lost wax casting** process used to transform a clay
    sculpture into bronze.

-   **Written Assignment:** Students will write a short research paper
    on a Cornish Colony sculptor or a contemporary artist.

-   **"Learning to Look":** Using the three laminated photographs of
    "Diana," students will complete a sculpture analysis worksheet on
    their own or in cooperative groups.

-   **Video:** Students will watch the video *The Medal Maker\"(*30
    min.) about the life and work of the artist Laura Gardin Fraser.
    (This video provides an excellent gender role model.) This may be
    followed by Activity 6, \"Designing a Medal.\"

**Follow‑up Activities:**

> These activities will provide hands-on experience working with clay
> and should best be done in conjunction with the Art teacher.

-   **Activity 4- Sculpture in the Round**

-   **Activity 5- Creating a Bas-Relief**

-   **Activity 6- Designing a Medal or Coin** (can be used as a drawing
    exercise)

**Resources/materials to be provided by the teacher:**

-   Flip chart/markers

-   Videos: *Wax Blood/Bronze Skin* and *The Medal Maker*

-   *3* photos of \"Diana\"

**Handouts**

-   **"What Have You Learned" worksheet**

-   **"Assistants of Augustus Saint-Gaudens" handout**

-   **"Learning to Look:" Sculpture Analysis Worksheet**

# A Discussion Guide on Sculpture

**Engage students in a discussion by beginning with the following
questions:**

-   **Each of you probably has a piece of sculpture on you right now. Do
    you?** *Examples could be earrings, rings, pendants, belt buckles
    and especially coins. Coins are an example of **bas-relief
    sculpture** (pronounced‑ baa‑relief).*

-   **Where else in your home or community could you find sculpture?**
    *List student answers on the blackboard or on chart paper. Answers
    might include a local Civil War monument, a municipal fountain,
    gravestones in a cemetery, decorations on buildings, medals, sports
    trophies, figurines, weather vanes, etc.*

-   **What are some materials sculpture can be made out of?** *(i.e.
    stone, clay, **plaster,** wood, plastic, metals, fabric, found
    objects, paper, even snow and ice)*

We have now considered a variety of places we may see sculpture and a
variety of materials in which it is made, but basically, regardless of
material or size, ***traditional sculpture*** occurs in two forms:
***sculpture in the round* and *relief sculpture****.* Augustus
Saint-Gaudens worked in the traditional method of creating sculpture.

a.  ***Sculpture in the round*** is ***freestanding*** or
    three-dimensional. It has height, width and depth. We can walk
    around it and look at it from all sides.

b.  ***Relief sculpture*** is two‑dimensional. It has been defined as a
    \"drawing in clay.\" It is like a coin in which there is a raised
    image from the background. A relief is meant to be seen from the
    front only. There are two types of relief sculpture: low relief,
    also called ***bas-relief*** and ***high relief*** in which less
    than 50% of the figure is attached to the background.

**What types of sculpture are there?**

-   Subject matter is often guided by its intended function. Sculpture
    that is ***realistic* or *representational ***actually portrays a
    person, place or event without distortion or stylization. A
    ***portrait*** is a popular subject for sculpture. A ***bust*** is a
    three-dimensional portrait, usually showing the figure from the
    shoulders up. Saint‑Gaudens modeled ***portrait busts*** before
    completing his monuments to Admiral David Glasgow Farragut or
    General William T. Sherman. Saint‑Gaudens also did many portraits in
    ***bas-relief*** for friends and wealthy patrons. An ***allegory***
    is another subject that an artist may choose. It is a human figure
    used to convey an idea; in the General Sherman monument,
    Saint‑Gaudens included the figure of a woman grasping a palm frond
    to convey the meaning of Victory. (See photo of Victory.)

**How is it made?**

-   There are two methods in which to make traditional sculpture. In the
    ***additive process*** the artist keeps adding material to build up
    the whole shape. Modeling with clay is usually an additive process.
    If the piece is to be big, the sculptor works around an
    ***armature***, which is an interior, support to hold the clay in
    place. In the ***subtractive process*** of making sculpture, the
    artist removes pieces (he carves away) from a solid material such as
    wood, marble or granite.

**Where do you put a sculpture?**

-   A sculpture needs a setting. Public sculpture is frequently mounted
    on a base, also called a ***pedestal*.** Saint‑Gaudens
    ***collaborated*** with his friend, the architect Stanford White,
    who designed a pedestal or architectural setting for several
    sculptures such as the Adams Memorial, the Standing Lincoln or the
    monument to General William Tecumseh Sherman. In the Farragut
    Monument, White designed a pedestal, which incorporated an
    ***exedra,*** or stone bench. The bench forms part of his pedestal.
    A pedestal raises the sculpture up from the viewer\'s space and
    contributes to a monumental effect.

**What is an inscription?**

-   An inscription is when words are incorporated into the composition
    as part of the overall design. Saint‑Gaudens was one of the first
    American artists to do this.

**What size can a sculpture be?**

-   Sculpture may be made in many sizes from a ***reduction*** (less
    than life‑size) to ***life‑size*** to ***heroic*** (larger than
    life) and finally ***colossal***.

**What are the steps involved in modeling a sculpture?**

-   When an artist conceives his idea for a sculpture he will begin by
    making a sketch on paper. This is only two‑dimensional.

-   He now needs to make a ***clay sketch*** or ***maquette*** to see
    how the idea will look from all sides. The artist will then model
    the final sculpture in clay.

-   If the work is to be larger or smaller than life, it will be done
    using a ***pointing machine.*** This is a mechanical device, usually
    operated by assistants, which assures a perfect copy of the
    original.

-   Finally, to make the piece more permanent, a mold will be made and
    the sculpture may be cast into ***plaster*** or ***bronze.***
    (Bronze is an alloy of the metals copper and tin.) Casting in bronze
    is done at a ***foundry*** in a process called ***lost wax
    casting.***

-   The last step, which is performed between the sculptor and the
    foundry, is to select a ***patina*** or color for the sculpture. The
    process is called ***patination*** and occurs when heated metal,
    like bronze, is exposed to an acid bath. Patination, or the
    coloration of metals, will occur naturally over time as the metal
    surface reacts with its environment (i.e. a bronze statue in the
    city will turn black from the concentration of carbons in the air
    and a statue near the ocean will become green, like the Statue of
    Liberty, reacting to salts from the water). The artist, working with
    the foundry can choose the desired and final color of his/her
    sculpture.

Compiled from *Children, Clay and Sculpture*, by Cathy Weisman and
\"Bronze Casting\" an exhibition pamphlet from The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, 1991.

**The video *Wax Blood/ Bronze Skin* should be screened after this
discussion. It documents the foundry process of making a cast of
Saint-­Gaudens\' Farragut monument.**

#### Assistants of Augustus Saint-Gaudens

The use of assistants in a sculptor\'s studio was an acknowledged
practice of the nineteenth century. It would have been impossible for
Saint‑Gaudens to complete the quantity of commissions without the help
of talented, young sculptors. Moreover, remembering his early yearning
for professional guidance, Saint‑Gaudens felt a responsibility to share
his skill by teaching a new generation of sculptors. He taught at the
Art Students League from 1888 to 1897. From this group, he often
selected several of the most promising students to assist in his
studios. Even after he became gravely ill, Saint‑Gaudens was able to
continue, by directing assistants in the completion of his work.

The following is a list of assistants who worked at various times in the
New York, Paris and Cornish studios. Each of these men and women went on
to remarkable careers of their own. **An asterisk indicates a member of
the Cornish Colony.** (Biographies and examples of their work may be
found in the Visual Artists Index on the CD‑ROM.)

**Assistants:**

John Flanagan (1865‑ 1952)

\*James E. Fraser (1876‑1953)

\*Frances Grimes (1869‑ 1963)

Louis Gudebrod (1872‑ 1961)

\*Henry Hering (1874‑1949)

Albert Jaegers (1868‑ 1925)

Charles Keck (1875‑1951)

Mary Lawrence (Tonetti) (1868‑1945)

Oscar Lenz (1874‑1912)

Frederick W. MacMonnies (1863‑1937)

Philip Martiny (1858‑1927)

Helen F. Mears (1876‑1953)

Robert T. Paine (1870‑ 1946)

Bela Pratt (1867‑1917)

A. Phimister Proctor (1865‑1920)

Rene De Quelin

\*Annetta Johnson St. Gaudens (1869‑1943)

\*Louis St. Gaudens (1854‑1913)

\*Harry Thrasher (1883‑1918)

\*Elsie Ward (Hering) (1871-1923)

Adolph Weinman (1870‑ 1952)

**Plaster molders and technical assistants:**

Gaetan Ardisson (1856‑ 1926)

Antonio Tonachel

D. J. Donovan

**Sculptors who were members of the Cornish Colony, but not assistants
of Saint-Gaudens:**

\*Herbert Adams (1858-1945)

\*Paul Manship (1885-1966)

\*Bessie Potter Vonnoh (1872-1955)

\*William Zorach (1887-1966)

## Teacher Guide Unit 3: "What Have You Learned"

![](media/image4.wmf)**Interpretive Questions:** Review with your
students the visual arts vocabulary and concepts learned in the guided
discussion. Have them answer the following questions in writing or class
discussion.

1.  **What are the steps involved in modeling a sculpture?**

-   Sketch, maquette; and then, with an armature, the artist will create
    a full size sculpture. If it is to be enlarged, this will be done
    using a pointing machine. Finally, to make the work permanent, it
    may be cast into plaster or bronze and will be **patinated.**

2.  **Saint‑Gaudens preferred to work in the additive process of making
    a sculpture. Define and give examples.**

-   Saint‑Gaudens preferred to work in clay. He modeled both
    3­-dimensional, freestanding pieces as well as bas‑reliefs. Examples
    of 3‑D sculptures would include Admiral Farragut, Lincoln or the
    Diana weather vane. Examples of relief sculpture would include the
    Shaw Memorial, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the many bas-relief
    portraits he completed.

![](media/image5.wmf){width="0.5208333333333334in"
height="0.7083333333333334in"}**Written Assignment:** Complete one of
the following exercises.

*Supports NH English Language Arts Curriculum Standard #2, especially
Enhance\...writing by using a variety of sources to provide background
information, supporting details, and models of good writing (grade 10)*,
p.15.

1.  **Research a Cornish Colony sculptor**: Refer to the handouts
    "Assistants of Augustus Saint-Gaudens" and "The Cornish Colony: A
    List of Members." In your report, include a short biography of the
    artist, where he or she studied and worked. Describe one example of
    this artist\'s work. In what medium was it created? What was the
    process? Where can this sculptor\'s work be seen today? If known,
    for what purpose did the artist make this piece; what was the artist
    trying to say, and, in your opinion, is it successful or not? Why?

> **Helpful Resources:**

-   *Footprints of the Past*

-   *Circle of Friends*

-   CD-ROM

2.  **From your own experience:** Both New Hampshire and Vermont have a
    rich tradition of art and craftwork. Can you think of someone in
    your community or area who works in the arts? (an actor, painter,
    sculptor, potter, quilter, photographer, singer, etc). Describe
    his/her work. How does this artist express ideas and feelings? How
    do you feel about this person\'s work? Do you like to work in the
    arts? If so, describe what you do.

## ![](media/image6.bmp)What Have You Learned?

![](media/image7.wmf)**Interpretive Questions:** Review with your
students the visual arts vocabulary and concepts learned in the guided
discussion. Have them answer the following questions in writing or class
discussion.

1.  What are the steps involved in modeling a sculpture?

2.  Saint‑Gaudens preferred to work in the additive process of making a
    sculpture. Define and give examples.

![](media/image5.wmf){width="0.5208333333333334in"
height="0.7083333333333334in"}**Written Assignment:** Complete one of
the following exercises.

1.  **Research a Cornish Colony sculptor**: Refer to the handouts
    "Assistants of Augustus Saint-Gaudens" and "The Cornish Colony: A
    List of Members." In your report, include a short biography of the
    artist, where he or she studied and worked. Describe one example of
    this artist\'s work. In what medium was it created? What was the
    process? Where can this sculptor\'s work be seen today? If known,
    for what purpose did the artist make this piece; what was the artist
    trying to say, and, in your opinion, is it successful or not? Why?

> **Helpful Resources:**

-   *Footprints of the Past*

-   *Circle of Friends*

-   CD-ROM

2.  **From your own experience:** Both New Hampshire and Vermont have a
    rich tradition of art and craftwork. Can you think of someone in
    your community or area who works in the arts? (an actor, painter,
    sculptor, potter, quilter, photographer, singer, etc). Describe
    his/her work. How does this artist express ideas and feelings? How
    do you feel about this person\'s work? Do you like to work in the
    arts? If so, describe what you do.