In the 19th century, a large number of monuments and commemorative sculptures showing outstanding skills were placed in many city squares and public buildings in Europe. The famous French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Sister culp created Dance with a strong romantic spirit. The whole work is full of vitality and has a smooth and beautiful rhythm. Francois Rude's relief of The Arc de Triomphe is full of passion and national pride. Medal Village Rosso applied impressionist painting theory to sculpture, thus combining painting with sculpture. His works show the most flashing and wonderful parts of the sculpture under the illumination of colored light, while weakening other parts, showing rich light and shadow and character changes.
When it comes to sculpture in the 19th century, Rodin cannot be ignored. Rodin's artistic genius and unique personality make his works come out of the rut. As a talented sculptor, Rodin's secret is that he is good at expressing his inner feelings and connotations with the movement and posture of the statue, and he has injected unforgettable realism and humanism.
French Rodin in the Bronze Age
Rodin in the Bronze Age
The name Bronze Age seems to have nothing to do with this naked man. It actually refers to a stage in the development of human history, similar to that of the Stone Age and the Black Iron Age. The naked man is stretching himself, as Rodin said, slowly waking from a deep dream. This action symbolizes the beginning of mankind from ignorance to civilization. In the process of making this work, Rodin went to Italy, and the artistic style of Italian sculptor Michelangelo had a certain influence on this work. From this work, Rodin began to express a certain cultural significance in human form.
In p>187, when the Franco-Prussian War broke out, Rodin was drafted into the army with blind nationalism and patriotism, and he retired home after illness. Rodin, penniless, once carved the name of his teacher Carriere Behles on his statue to make money, and was found out and drove out of the studio. A man who also studied in Behles's studio pulled him to make some traditional statues and sell them for money. Soon, Rodin was disgusted with all this. He wanted to escape and breathe some real artistic air. He used what little money he had to go to Holland and Italy, where he was impressed by Michelangelo. The creative impulse that had been brewing for a long time in his heart finally broke out. He hurried back to Belgium and spent 18 months sculpting a man's body. He asked a beautiful young soldier to model for him. He made this statue with a stick in his left hand. When he was walking, he was suddenly shocked by what was in front of him. He stopped his steps, looked up and stared, and pulled his hair with his right hand. It was very naive and natural. Rodin's naked man is endowed with ordinary human nature, which shows people's anxiety, shyness and awe. It's as big as a real person. Rodin originally named it The Conquered.
After failing in the exhibition, Van Raspbur encouraged him and suggested that Rodin cancel the stick and rename it Bronze Age. It should be said that this name is very appropriate, and it gives the statue a new meaning. It shows the transition from primitive society to bronze age, and it symbolizes the dawn or awakening of mankind. The sculptor truly shaped a symmetrical and perfect young male body. His posture is very natural and vivid, with his left leg supporting the whole body, his right leg slightly bent and his toes slightly touching the ground. The left hand is like holding a stick, and the right arm is raised and held on the top of the head, so that the muscles of the trunk and limbs fluctuate accordingly. His head leaned back slightly and his eyes closed, as if he were about to wake up from a dream. The whole posture and facial expression are very harmonious. He stretches his whole body, is getting rid of all the shackles, and begins to emit inner strength. The outline structure of the whole body is not only uniform and perfect, but also embodies accurate anatomical knowledge.
At the exhibition, The Bronze Age was considered by critics to be cast from human body, and Rodin became a dirty liar for a time. Rodin protested to the Academy of Fine Arts, which sent a jury of five sculptors to Rodin's studio. Rodin created a male nude in public without referring to any model. In this improvisational portrait, Rodin undoubtedly showed his precise anatomical knowledge and excellent sculpture skills, which defeated this massive attack in silence.
The Thinker by French Rodin
The Thinker is a figure in the bronze relief of Hell's Gate. Originally, it was intended to show Dante's thinking about hell and human beings, but actually it created a powerful working man, which is far from the poet. The giant bent over, bent his knees, and held his jaw in his right hand, silently watching the tragedy below. His deep eyes and the gesture of his fist touching his lips showed an extremely painful mood. He longed to sink into absolute meditation and tried to shrink and bend his strong body into a ball. His muscles are very tense, not only absorbed in thinking, but also immersed in distress. He watched the tragedy played below. He sympathized with and cherished human beings, so he could not make a final judgment on those who committed crimes, so he had extremely contradictory feelings. In that deep meditation, the great poet Dante's inner anguish was reflected. This depressed inner emotion is vividly expressed through the artistic treatment of facial expressions and muscle ups and downs of limbs. For example, the prominent forehead and eyebrow arch make the eyes sag and disappear in the shadow, which enhances the expression of depressed meditation; Another example is the tightly flexed calf tendon and cramped toes, which strongly convey this painful emotion. This seemingly quiet and hidden power is even more thought-provoking.
As to why Rodin created The Thinker with this stout nude image, and prepared to put it on the top of his large relief door decoration "The Gate of Hell", we might as well explain it with Rodin's own words. He said: "A person's image and posture will inevitably reveal his feelings in his heart, and his body will express his inner spirit." For those who know this view, nudity is the most meaningful. In this work, the sculptor, on the one hand, adopted the precise technique of realism, and at the same time expressed the humanistic thought consistent with the poet Dante. They expressed great sympathy and sorrow for the suffering of mankind.
When designing the overall composition of the bronze relief of Hell's Gate, Rodin made great efforts to shape this round sculpture The Thinker, which later became a milestone of his personal art, and it was scheduled to be placed on the top of the unfinished Gate of Hell. Later, it came out independently and magnified 3 times. Originally, Rodin named the statue Poet, which meant to symbolize Dante's thinking about all kinds of evil ghosts in hell. For this image, Rodin devoted great artistic power.
burghers of calais, France Rodin
burghers of calais Rodin
burghers of calais, a group of six bronze sculptures, was created by the French sculptor Rodin in 1884-1886 and now exists in Calais, France.
In p>1884, when Rodin was immersed in the creation of Hell's Gate, the Calais authorities invited him to make a monument to the loyal soul. The incident of Yimin going to the disaster originated from the historical yearbook of France. During the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century, the British army was about to capture Calais, France. Calais was besieged by the British army for nearly two years, and the lives of its citizens were at stake. After negotiations between the two sides, King Edward III of England put forward cruel conditions. The city of Calais must elect six noble citizens to be put to death, and it is stipulated that these six people should be bald, barefoot, and lock their necks when they leave the city, and take the city gate key in their hands, so as to save the city. This is a historical tragedy that the French people will never forget. The city of Calais originally asked Rodin to make one of the righteous people, but after Rodin learned about the history, he promised to shape six statues for only one statue.
burghers of calais is divided into two groups, three in the front and three in the back. They are similar in figure and stand together. In the middle, with slightly longer hair and eyes staring down, is the oldest and most prestigious Ostage. He walked forward with calm steps, without looking around, hesitation and fear. His resolute expression shows his inner strong grief and determination to sacrifice. Because of his strength, he encouraged the others. Standing on the far right is a slightly younger man, with wrinkled eyebrows and pursed lips showing grief and indignation, clutching the key of the city gate with both hands. He looks blankly ahead, as if he feels the unfair fate, and silently protests in his heart. The third righteous man on the right, death frightened him. He covered his eyes with his hands and seemed to want to dispel the nightmare, but he still could not avoid the tragic fate. The second righteous man on the left showed great anger in his heart. The gesture of raising his hand to heaven was not a prayer, but a condemnation of God's failure to uphold justice. His eyes stared down, and his half-open mouth seemed to say something. A righteous man beside him, who is young, seems to be impulsive by generate's patriotic enthusiasm, but the thought that he will die in a twinkling inevitably causes where will you go's grief and indignation. He frowned and spread out his hands to show his helplessness. A righteous man behind them, with his head in his hands, was in great pain. Although the latter three volunteers were not as determined and brave as the former, they still made self-sacrifice for the people of the city, which is equally worthy of respect.
the group images are dramatically arranged on a low pedestal like the ground. The shapes of these six righteous people are independent, but their dynamics are interrelated. Group sculpture is a whole, a whole full of moving images. Rodin shocked people's hearts with his spirit of approaching the truth thoroughly and exploring deeply, sharp psychological portrayal and strong personality expression. This work, regardless of its structure, its understanding of commemorative images and its exposition of heroic humanity, is of innovative significance and shows the brilliance of Rodin's art.
Balzac, like French Rodin
Balzac is a great French literary master in the 19th century, and his works are full of romantic passion and critical realism. Rodin admired him very much and was very happy to make a statue for him. So in 1891, when the French Writers Association commissioned Rodin to sculpt a Balzac statue, he immediately said, "I want to do something extraordinary."
Balzac died when Rodin was 1 years old. Therefore, in the image-building, he has done a lot of reading, investigation and research, and made more than 4 image exercises before and after, deliberately depicting the appearance and spiritual characteristics of a generation of literary giants. The sculptor thinks that creating Balzac in a similar shape is not the main thing. I think about his enthusiastic work, his hard life, his endless fighting, his great courage and spirit. I try to show all this. Balzac portrayed by Rodin is an image of walking at night. Literary giant is used to working in pajamas at night, so Rodin asked him to meditate under the stars in pajamas, which wrapped the giant standing.
It is said that Balzac had a pair of wise hands in the original manuscript. When Rodin asked his student and assistant Bourdel for advice, Bourdel praised him and said, "His hands are so well carved!" " Rodin picked up the hammer and smashed these hands, because he was afraid that people would ignore the main part because these hands were too prominent. Now people see Balzac, his hands are tightly covered by his robe, his facial spirit is highlighted, and he seems to be walking and thinking alone all night in the moonlight.
After the work was completed, it was unexpected that the client refused to accept it, and even accused the statue of being "like a penguin, a snowman, a pile of coal, a freak and a shapeless larva". Others think that Balzac is a symbol of decadence and insanity at the end of 19th century, even some kind people think it has too much philosophy and insufficient modeling. The French Writers Association decided to cancel the contract on the grounds that it was difficult for them to recognize Balzac's image in the rough draft. In the face of all these criticisms and accusations, Rodin said, "My Balzac statue, whose dynamics and appearance remind people of his life, thoughts and social environment, is inseparable from social life, and he is a real living person." He also believes: "Balzac is the pinnacle of my life, the achievement of all my life struggles, and the concentrated expression of my aesthetic ideal."
"Balzac" has both form and spirit, which is a brand-new concept of human sculpture. When the work was exhibited in the salon in 1898, it aroused widespread social criticism. Some people say that it is impressionism, a weird and morbid expression, and a form of shaping the human body that is divorced from reality. Some sharp critics even described the statue as a toad in a sack. The writers' association refused to accept it, and the chairman of the writers' association, the poet Jan Eckard, resigned in anger because he refused to accept the order. Writers Zola, France, painters Monet, Lautrec, musician Debussy and others joined forces to support Rodin and issued a declaration. Finally, Rodin couldn't bear this long-term dispute, and resolutely decided to ship the work back to his studio and refund the manuscript fee. But he firmly believes: "If truth should be extinct, then future generations will destroy my Balzac statue to pieces. If truth should not die, then I predict to you that my statue will be invincible. " In 1939, this statue was finally cast into a bronze statue and stood in Paris. At this time, Rodin had passed away for 2 years.
French Degas, a 14-year-old dancer
Degas was born in Paris in 1834. He came from a family of financial capitalists, and his grandfather was a painter, so he grew up in a family that was very concerned about art.
Degas copied many paintings and sketches in the 15th and 16th centuries, and he is an expert in sketching who has learned the good techniques of the Anglian School. This kind of sketch is a kind of classical sketch, and it is a kind of sketch (academic) studied in college. Therefore, Edward Manet, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne all rose up against this kind of sketch in the near future, but Degas' attitude towards it is different. He worships classical sketch very much. Degas has a natural interest in sketching. He likes slim, coherent and clear lines, which he thinks are the guarantee of elegant style and the only way to achieve the beauty he admires. Lines became his desire. On the use of online, he has reached the point where none of Angel's disciples and followers can reach.
but soon, degas's sharp sense made him aware of a new artistic trend, that is realism. However, this theory advocates abandoning the ideal of beauty in ancient Greece and replacing it with a simple and sincere expression of what you see. In order to approach the ideal of beauty without being divorced from reality, degas's creative technique is to use clean lines and light and shade techniques. If we want to describe the reality, we must make the technique obey the individuality of the image, which is portrait painting. Degas's portraits in his youth accurately show his belief in sketch, excellent skills and delicate feeling.
Degas is a painter who is famous for painting ballerinas. Indeed, no other theme has fascinated him so much, and it seems that it has failed to make him create his own style. He hopes to draw a sense of space and draw the impression of looking at the three-dimensional shape from the most unexpected angle. Therefore, he likes to choose themes from ballet, rather than from outdoor scenes. When watching the rehearsal, Degas had the opportunity to see the most varied body posture from all aspects. Looking down from the top of the stage, he can see the girls dancing or resting, and he can study the complex shortening and the effect of stage lighting in human modeling.
Degas was famous as a painter before his death, but few people know that he was also a sculptor. He lived to be 83 years old, and only exhibited in the salon at the age of 47 (1881).