Study Sheet, Chapter 12
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Art Appreciation
Study Sheet – Chapter 12, Sculpture
Vocabulary:
Mass – three-dimensional forms having physical bulk.
Equestrian monument – monument with a horse. Figure 12-10
Portrait busts – a sculpture that shows only the head and shoulders or chest. 12-11a
Relief sculpture – sculpture in which three-dimensional forms project from the flat
background of which they are a part. The degree of projection can vary and is described
by the terms high relief and low relief.
In high relief sculpture, more than half of the natural circumference of the
modeled form projects from the surrounding surface, and figures are substantially
undercut. Figure 12-15
In low relief (or bas-relief) sculpture, the projection from the surrounding surface
is slight. Figure 12-13
In sunken relief, also called hollow or intaglio, the backgrounds are not cut back
and the points in highest relief are level with the original surface of the material
being carved. Figure 12-14
Sculpture meant to be seen from all sides is called in-the-round or freestanding.
Modeling is a manipulative and often additive process of creating sculpture. Pliable
material such as clay, wax, or plaster is built up, removed, and pushed into a form.
Carving away unwanted material to form a sculpture is a subtractive process. Materials
commonly used are stone (marble, sandstone, basalt), jade, and wood.
Casting processes make it possible to create a work in an easily handled medium (clay)
and then to preserve the results in a more permanent material (bronze). Because most
casting involves the substitution of one material for another, casting is also called the
substitution or replacement process. The most used method for casting which involves
hot metals is the lost wax process.
Assemblage – sculpture using preexisting or “found” objects that may or may not
contribute their original identities to the total content of the work. Figure 12-16
Installation – a type of art medium in which the artist arranges objects or art works in a
room, thinking of the entire space as the medium to be manipulated. Also called
environments.
Kinetic sculpture – sculpture that moves. Alexander Calder was among the first to create
kinetic sculpture. Marcel Duchamp called Calder’s sculptures mobiles. Figure 12-26
Study Sheet, Chapter 12
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Earthworks – sculptural forms made from earth, rocks, or sometimes plants, often on a
vast scale and in remote locations. Figure 12-27
Performance art – dramatic presentations by visual artists (not actors or dancers) in
front of an audience, usually apart from a formal theatrical setting. Figure 12-29
Happening – an event conceived by artists and performed by artists and others, usually
unrehearsed and without a specific script or stage. Figure 12-30
Site-specific art – any work made for a certain place, which cannot separate or exhibited
apart from its intended environment. Figure 12-7
Study questions:
1.
Open sculpture has voids or open areas within the form; closed sculpture has no
Voids or open areas within the form.
2.
An artist will often create a smaller version of the finished sculpture called a
maquette.
3.
The art of making objects from clay and hardening them into permanent materials
by firing is called ceramics.
4.
A rigid framework serving as a supporting inner core for clay or other soft
sculpturing material is an armature.
5.
The three major processes in making sculpture are:
Modeling, a manipulative and often additive process.
Carving, a subtractive process.
Casting, a substitution or replacement process.
6.
Sculpture meant to be seen from all sides is called in-the-round or freestanding.
7.
The artist Alexander Calder is most famous for creating mobiles called
kinetic sculptures. Figure 12-26
8.
A subcategory of constructed sculpture that lets artists use found objects in new
ways is called assemblage. Figure 12-16
9.
Sculpture that has been designed for a particular place is called site-specific.
10.
Artworks that are completed with a variety of kinds of materials are called
mixed media.
11.
When an artist constructs an environment within a gallery as his artwork, it is
called installation.
Study Sheet, Chapter 12
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12.
The most used process for making bronze sculpture is the lost wax process.
Mississippi College art professors and artists that have used this process for their
sculptures are Dr. Steve Glaze for his Firefighter and Dr. Sam Gore for his
Servant Savior. The artworks are exhibited in public and are called Public Art.
13.
When an artist creates an artwork in front of an audience it is called performance
art.
14.
A glaze is a glassy coating often containing color that is fired into the surface of a
ceramic work.
15.
A patina is the finish that is put on the surface of a bronze work.
16.
Identify what kind of sculptures the following are:
(freestanding or relief; process used-modeling, carving, or casting; or other assemblage, kinetic, mixed media, or site-specific)(material, extra)
Henry Moore, Reclining Figure: Angles
Style of Phidias (Greek)
Riemenschneider, Virgin and Child
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Portrait of Akhenaten (Egyptian)
Nevelson, My Cathedral
Peruvian, Portrait Vessel
Egyptian, Statue of Lady Sennuwy
Rodin, Monument to Balzac
Duane Hanson figures
Stonehenge
Michelangelo, David
freestanding, casting, bronze
high relief, carving, marble
freestanding, carving, wood
site-specific, granite (carved relief)
sunken relief, limestone (carved)
assemblage, found wooden objects
ceramic, modeling, clay
freestanding, carving, granite
freestanding, casting, bronze
freestanding, casting, polyvinyl
freestanding, site-specific, stone
freestanding, carving, marble
17.
A sculpture that depicts only the head and torso of a person is called a bust.
18.
The sculptural technique that shapes forms from soft materials like clay or wax is
modeling.
The sculptural technique that involves the artist cutting away material to create his
artwork is called carving.
The sculptural technique that utilizes molds into which molten materials are
poured is called casting.
19.
A type of art that is a three-dimensional object that has mass and takes up space is
sculpture.
20.
A statue that includes a horse is called an equestrian monument.