The desire for beauty, expressed in art, is almost the only thing that distinguishes a person from an animal. Since ancient times, man has been trying to create something beautiful, in between hunting and survival, drawing patterns on the walls of his cave. With the development of mankind, art developed, which took more and more new forms. One of the main types of fine art is sculpture. What is sculpture and what types of it exist - this article will tell about this.
The main object of the sculpture is a man, although it can also depict animals or any other objects. Depending on what material is used, the appropriate methods for processing them are selected. It can be molding, forging, chasing or casting.
Before you start considering any concept, you should give it a specific definition. What is a sculpture and what are its characteristic features? The difficulty is that it is not so easy to answer this question unequivocally. However, we will try to figure it out.
Definition: “What is sculpture?” Variety of options
Any concept or phenomenon is interpreted differently. The reason for this is that every art critic looks at a problem from his own angle. Therefore, each develops its own meaning of the concept of “sculpture”. What is sculpture, you can learn from various explanatory dictionaries.
According to the explanatory dictionary of Efremova, sculpture is the art of creating three-dimensional (relief) images using sculpting, carving or molding.
In the explanatory dictionary of Ushakov, one can find the following definition: "Sculpture is the art of making three-dimensional or convex images - statues, bas-reliefs, etc."
However, it should be noted that all sources agree that sculpture is a special kind of fine art. And certainly it is not necessary to doubt it.
Sculpture. What is a sculpture?
The term itself comes from the Latin word “sculptura”, which literally translates as “sculpting”, or “carving”. By the way, the term “sculpture” is very often used as a synonym for the word “sculpture”.
Sergey Sobolev, a talented young artist , described it very successfully: “this is a field of feelings associated with form”. The basis of any sculpture should be precisely the form, the ancient language of which is accessible and understandable to any person.
Sculpture history
The roots of this art form go back to ancient times, in the Paleolithic era, it was then that its first works arose. The sculptures in the form of images of a woman or various animals found on the site of numerous Paleolithic sites in Western Europe are vivid confirmation of this. In the Neolithic era, the diversity of sculptural monuments expanded even more.
Of course, this type of art was most developed in the era of Ancient Greece. It is sculpture that becomes one of the main forms of expression of ancient Greek philosophy, which was based on the personality of a person - harmoniously developed both spiritually and physically. A myriad of statues of gods, mythical heroes and warriors was made by the masters of Ancient Hellas, for whom sculpture was the work of a lifetime. What is sculpture in the understanding of the ancient Greek master? This is primarily the flexibility, plasticity and organic forms based on the most precise anatomical details. Among such great masters of ancient Greek sculpture, we can distinguish Phidias, Miron, Lysippus, Praxiteles and others.
The sculpture gained a new round of development in the 15th-16th centuries, during the Renaissance, which was based on ancient traditions. Italy became the center of Renaissance sculpture, among the great sculptors of that time - Michelangelo, Donatello, Verrocchio and other creators.
Soviet ideologists also paid great attention to sculpture. It has become an effective tool for propagating the ideas of Soviet socialism. The main feature of Soviet sculpture can be considered its monumentality. The majestic steles, massive monuments and thousands of monuments to the communist leaders left us a legacy of Soviet sculpture.
In modern sculpture, not the image (object) comes to the fore, but the choice of color, texture and material. It is color that is becoming almost the main instrument of artistic expression in modern sculpture.
The main types of sculptures
The main types of sculpture include:
- round sculpture (in fact, statues and busts);
- relief sculpture (bas-reliefs and high reliefs);
- easel sculpture;
- monumental sculpture.
Some specific types of this art are also highlighted: miniature sculpture, kinetic, ice, park and others. By genre, sculpture is portrait, household, historical, symbolic.
Sculpting process
Making sculptures is not an easy task, requiring certain skills and painstaking work. As soon as the sculptor has the idea of a work, he begins its embodiment with the manufacture of a scaled-down model. Only when the layout is completely ready, you can move on to the sculpture itself.
To sculpt a statue, you need a foundation and a steel frame. Then the artist begins to cover this frame with clay until he receives a sculpture close to his layout in appearance. At the same time, he uses special tools for sculpting - stacks, as well as his own hands. It is important to ensure constant wetting of the material during sculpting so that it does not begin to crack.
When the sculpting is finished, the sculptor makes an accurate cast of his creation from a material that is stronger than clay. After that, on the basis of the cast, the sculpture can be made of any other material - stone, steel or bronze. It is worth noting that not a single great sculptural work can do without preliminary modeling and making a cast. Although in the history of sculpture there were masters who worked immediately with the source material. One of these was the great creator of Michelangelo.
Sculpture as a decoration of parks
One of the types of sculpture is a park sculpture, the traditions of which have a long history. It is difficult to imagine a beautiful park or city garden without sculptural decorations. The tradition of decorating gardens with sculptures was established by the ancient Greeks. It is difficult to imagine the gardens of Ancient Rome without sculptural sculptures of gods or courageous warriors.
In the 17th century, Venice became the center for the manufacture of sculptures for parks and gardens. Noble people from Austria, Poland and Russia bought sculptures for their personal parks in batches. Park sculpture at that time became an important element of the decoration of St. Petersburg, which was just being actively built. The most outstanding Venetian master can be called Pietro Baratta, whose creations can still be seen in the Summer Garden of St. Petersburg or in the Tsarskoye Selo reserve.
Especially popular in modern parks is the so-called topiary sculpture - this is the creation of real masterpieces from living plants - trees or bushes.
The most famous world sculptures
Famous sculptures of the world have gained popularity due to their features. We bring to your attention the five most famous world sculptures.
1. The most famous of the ancient sculptures is a statue of the goddess Aphrodite, also known as Venus of Milos. The cult statue of marble was made in the second century BC and has survived to this day. Today, this two-meter sculpture can be seen in the special gallery of the Louvre.
2. The highest sculpture is the statue of Buddha Vairochan in China (Henan Province). The total height of the monument is 158 meters, the work on its construction was completed in 2002. The sculpture is made of cast copper, and the total cost of this project was about 55 million dollars.
3. The most mysterious sculpture is the sculptures of Moai on Easter Island. Scientists suggest that the statues are the work of the masters of ancient Polynesia and blurry date them to the first millennium AD.
4. The most patriotic sculpture is the world famous Statue of Liberty - a kind of symbol of the American people. She is also the second tallest on the planet.
5. The most golden sculpture is a statue of Buddha, located in Thailand, in the temple of Wat Traimit. The three-meter sculpture is unique in that it is completely made of solid gold.