Medardo Rosso: Post Impressionist Sculpture

You can learn more about Medardo Rosso here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medardo_Rosso

Poetry and atmosphere. A moment captured, made eternal, a gesture or moment that is seen and gone in a second. These works are so powerful and capture so much with so little hard edged information. 

Please spend time looking at each of these images, quietly and not in a rush to digest them. Try to quiet the noise and hunger of wanting to be better at sculpture and see how it can give voice to what has no words. Rosso's sculptures are subtle and quiet, quite different than Rodin and Camille Claudel.  Look at the bits of information he gives to you as well as the large masses that the details emerge from. Is there a benefit to leaving parts of a sculpture to the imagination? the human eye fills in and reads light and dark to determine what something is from very little detailed information, this is why squinting helps you see and make artwork. The first eyes in the evolution of life are just light receptors. Is there a more primal way to approach sculpture that beckons our oldest physical selves?  Why put the same kind of detail in every area if you wish to convey a certain emotion? We learn by seeing through the eyes of others as well as from studying from life. Looking at artwork and learning to identify why and how it impacts you will teach you and guide you.  Find out the artists you love and make them your teachers.  Most of his works are plaster covered with thick wax. Some were later  cast in bronze. There is one at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the European Impressionist section on the second floor. Please see it in person. The first Sunday of the month is pay what you wish at the PMA.