Walking as Art[1]

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Walking as Art

Sculpture

Auguste Rene Francois Rodin (1840-1917)

Rodin was one of the original subscribers to Muybridge's book,Animal Locomotion

(1887):

Movement is the transition from one one position to another.
http://www.rodin-art.com/a19.htmhttp://www.rodin-art.com/a19.htm


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The Walking Man, ca. 1880 (Bronze 86.5 x 59.6 x 26.7cm)
http://www.clt.astate.edu/wallen/digits/RodinOrsay/RodinOrsay0002.htmhttp://www.rodin-art.com/b19.htmhttp://www.clt.astate.edu/wallen/digits/RodinOrsay/RodinOrsay0002.htm


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http://www.clt.astate.edu/wallen/digits/RodinOrsay/image039.jpg


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Legs hold a torso away from the earth.And a regular high poem of legs is here.
http://www.clt.astate.edu/wallen/digits/RodinOrsay/image037.jpg


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Powers of bone and cord raise a belly and lungs

Out of ooze and over the loam where eyes look and ears hear

And arms have a chance to hammer and shoot and run motors.

You make us

Proud of our legs, old man.

And you left off the head here,The skull found always crumbling neighbor of the ankles

CARL SANDBURG

Walking Man is actually a reworking of Rodin's Saint John the

Baptist. Rodin was inspired to create such a statue upon first sight of

his model, a 42 year-old Abruzzi peasant by the name of Pignatelli,

in whom he "saw" his St. John and described him as "a man of

nature, a visionary, a believer, a forerunner come to announce one

greater than himself". Rodin wanted to create a statue involved in

the single, intense moment of expression of St. John the Baptist

(patron saint of Florence) preaching; however, it would appear thathe also wanted to communicate the potential for movement as well

as the emotional quality of the sculpture. Rodin's preliminary

drawings reveal that the figure of St. John originally carried a

shepherd's cross that was later eliminated. Apparently, when Rodin

discovered that it would disturb the harmony, movement, and

gesture of the figure, he

altered the drawing.

The statue was made in

pieces (the torso beingthe first to be exhibited

in 1890), then

assembled (in 1900),

and the "model" for

each part of the body

and personality of

Rodin's statue may also

contribute to the

fragmentation of

movement and visual

harmony:

'Take my St. John, for example,' Rodin explained to Paul Gsell, `While he is represented

with both feet on the ground, a snapshot of a model executing the same movement

would probably show the back foot already raised and moving in the direction of the

other one.'
http://carl-sandburg.com/Poems.htm#contentshttp://carl-sandburg.com/Poems.htm#contents


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Walking Man was given to the French Embassy in Rome for the 50th anniversary o

Italian reunification, but was sent back in 1916 by Barr (who called it "o

nly a broken statue"), with the excuse that it impeded traffic! St. John of

the Column is another embodiment - St. John spent more than 30 years, un

til his death, at the top o

And even in those of my works in which action is less pronounced, I have always sought

to give some indication of movement. I have very rarely represented complete repose. I

have always endeavored to express inner feelings by the mobility of muscles.

Rodin

Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966)

Walking Man (Homme qui Marche)1960 (bronze, 190 x 27 x 110 cm),

Krller-Muller Museum, Otterlo

Louisiana, Copenhagen
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/G/giacometti.htmlhttp://www.artchive.com/artchive/G/giacometti.html


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Man Walking in the Rain (Homme qui marche sous la pluie)1948 (bronze, 46.5 x 77 x 15 cm). Alberto Giacometti Foundation, Kunsthaus Zurich,

"Alberto Giacometti 1901-1966", book by Tony Stooss and Patrick Elliott


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Man Walking (24 x 31

paper)


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Walking Woman

(Femme qui Marche), 1933 Swiss (Bronze Height: 59 in.) Henry Lee Higginson and

William Frances Warden Funds

Most art critics assumed that those thin. gaunt figures were rising from the ashes of

Europe after the Holocaust, embodiments of existentialism. Giacometti himself often

said they were his homage to the ancient Greek and Egyptian art he saw and sketched atthe Louvre Museum and Muse de l'Homme in Paris. But many critics say it is the very

ambiguity of the images that give them such power.

In the late 1930s his career was interrupted - first by an accident when a car ran over his

foot, then by the outbreak of war. In 1941, in wartime Paris, he made very important

new friendships, with the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. But as

the Occupation tightened its grip, he moved to Switzerland, arriving in Geneva on the

last day of 1941.

In a famous encounter, the head of the surrealist movement, Andre Breton, askedGiacometti whether any artist cared what a human head looked like. Giacometti said, "I

do." Giacometti was tricked into attending what turned out to be a Surrealist tribunal.

Before the proceedings could be fully started, he said, 'Don't bother. I'm going,' and

turned his back and walked out. There was no public excommunication, but his friends

in the movement deserted him.

Establishing yourself, furnishing a house, building up a comfortable existence, and

having that menace hanging over your head all the time - no, I prefer to live in hotels,

cafs, just passing through.

Umberto Boccioni


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Unique Forms in the Continuity of Space

(1913) Bronze (1264 x 890 x 406), Private Collection, Rome

The Italian and Russian Futurists such as Russolo, Boccioni, Larionov and Goncharova,

attempted to represent movement: an approach known as "dynamism".

Universal dynamism must be rendered as dynamic sensation ... motion and light destroy

the substance of objects.

Futurist manifesto

Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas (1834-1917)
http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/psearch?Request=A&Person=7850http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/psearch?Request=A&Person=7850


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Dancer Looking at the Sole of Her

Right Foot (c.1890/1900), dark green wax and cork, height without base: 45.7 cm,

overall with base: 50.8 x 17.78 x 44.45 cm (National Gallery, Washington DC)

Dancer Moving Forward, Arms Raised

(c.1885/1890), greenish-black wax, metal armature, height without base: 35 cm

(National Gallery of Art, Washington DC)


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Fourth Position Front, on the Left Leg

(c.1885/1890), yellow brown wax and plastilene, height without base: 56.83 cm

(National Gallery of Art, Washington DC)

Dancer Putting on her Stocking, bronze (The Minneapolis

Institute of Arts)


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Young 14 year-old Dancer Bronze statue with diversely coloured patina, with a tulle b

allet skirt, and a satin ribbon in her hair, 0.98 x 0.352 x. 0.245 m, (Paris, Muse

d'Orsay and National Gallery of Art, Washing

During his lifetime, Edgar Degas exhibited only one of his wax sculptures (this one) and

cast three in plaster. Immediately after his death, 72 of his waxes were cast in bronzeeditions of 22 to 25 examples each. Given the scarcity of documentary evidence, the

original dates of execution for nearly all the waxes are simply not known. The original

Little Dancer caused a furor when first exhibited in 1881. Made of tinted wax and

dressed in real clothes, the sculpture outraged many viewers' sense of propriety. One

critic railed: "Wishing to present us with a statuette of a dancer, he has chosen amongst

the most odiously ugly.... Oh, certainly, at the very bottom of the barrel of the dance

school, there are some poor girls who look like this monster.... but what good are they in

terms of statuary? Put them in a museum of zoology, of anthropology, of physiology, all

right: but in a museum of art, really!" This hostility was, however, very much to the

point, as Degas was clearly using the sculpture to question accepted ideas of art. Joris-

Karl Huysmans, a generally more sympathetic critic observed: "The terrible truthfulnessof this statuette is a source of obvious discomfort... all their notions about sculpture,

about that cold, inanimate whiteness, those memorable stereotypes replicated for

centuries, are demolished. The fact is that, on first blow M. Degas has overturned the

conventions of sculpture." With its incorporation of ordinary materials there is a good

argument for making Degas' "first blow" the first modern sculpture.

The Spinario

The first century AD Spinario was first recorded around 1165 in Rome. Believed by

some to be a conscientious shepherd boy, Marcius, stopped to remove a thorn from his

foot after delivering a message to the Roman senate.

Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488)


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Putto Poised on a Globe (1480), unbaked clay, 75x38x23cm (National Gallery of Art,

Washington DC)

The Florentine sculptor and painter is ranked second only to Donatello among the

Italian sculptors of the Renaissance. His bronze of the bandit, Colleoni, was considered

the greatest equestrian statue in the world.

Sukhothai walking Buddha (Thailand)

The walking Buddha is unique to the Sukhothai (1243) style

of sculpture. This asana (posture) is said to symbolize

Buddha's walking down from Tavatisma Heaven after he had

visited his mother. Alternately, it has been interpreted as

Buddha moving foward to offer the world his teachings.

Buddha images are made in one of four asanas - walking,

standing, sitting, reclining - each with a distinctive mudra, orhand position. The posture of walking was once fairly

common during the Sukhothai period in Thailand, but as later

kingdoms emerged, the seated attitude of Calling the Earth to

Witness became more common. The Buddha has a graceful

appearance, as if he was not just walking, but more gliding

on air.

In some, the hand is raised in the gesture of

Warding off Fear / Protection from Evil.

This hand gestures is known as theAbhya

Mudra.. There is an interesting legend about

this hand gesture. Devadatta, a cousin of the


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Buddha, had been jealous of the Buddha. As Devadatta's pride increased, he attempted

to murder the Buddha by releasing a rampaging elephant into the Buddha's path. But as

the elephant approached him, Buddha displayed the Abhaya mudra, which immediately

calmed the animal. Accordingly, it indicates not only the appeasement of the senses, but

also the absence of fear. People who are looking to overcome fear in their own lives, or

overcome jealousy, will therefore often meditate upon an image of the Buddha in theAbhya mudra. In Chinese and Japanese art this hand gesture can be a symbol for

teaching of the Dharma.

Wat Sa Si outside Wat Mahathat, Historic Park of Sukhothai

Robert Graham (b. 1938)


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President Franklin D. Roosevelt in thewheelchairhe

designed, FDR Memorial, Washington DC

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Eugne Henri Paul Gauguin was born in Paris on 7 June, 1848, the son of ClovisGauguin, a Republican editor, and his wife Aline Marie Chazal. In 1849, after Louis

Napolon came to power, the family emigrated to Peru. Clovis Gauguin died on the

way. His widow and 2 children (Paul and his elder sister Mari) stayed in Lima with their

rich relatives and did not return to France until 1855. At age 17, he became a sailor in

the French merchant navy, and first learned about the South seas. After the death of his

mother in 1867, he settled down with his wealthy guardian, Gustave Arosa, who had a

large art collection that included works by Delacroix. This period in time shaped

Gauguin's interest in the arts. He started collecting Impressionist paintings, and became

an amateur painter. This lasted until he was 23. At this time Gauguin became very

successful: he was a wealthy stockbroker, married Mette-Sophie Gad, from Denmark,

and had five children. At 34, the stock market crashed and he lost his job. The resultwas poverty. Soon after, the family decided to move to Mette's homeland, Denmark. In

1885 Gauguin came back to Paris - alone. Fifteen years after his separation, he went to

Tahiti and discovered primitive art. He enjoyed it and the surroundings of the South

Pacific because it meant he could paint people and scenery simply and naturally, with

vibrant, contrasting colors. In 1887, Gauguin left France for Panama. For a short time

he worked as a labourer for the Panama Canal Company. He soon left Panama for

Martinique, where he continued his development as an artist. In 1888 he returned to

Brittany. His experience in Martinique broadened his vision and enabled him to develop

original interpretations of scenes in Brittany. In October, 1888 he travelled to Vincent

van Gogh's home in Arles, France. His stay was both traumatic and fruitfull for both

artists. They learned a great deal from each other but were often at odds. Gauguin

returned to Paris in December after Van Gogh's "ear incident."This proved to be a
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turbulent arrangement. Thus Gauguin moved again, to Brittany, where he painted the

walls and ceiling of an inn, and sculpted in wood and marble.

Pair of Wooden Shoes (Sabots), 1889/1890, polychromed oak,

leather, and iron nails, 12.8 x 32.7 x 11.2 cm (NGA, Wash. DC)

I love Brittany: there I find the wild and the primitive. When my wooden shoes ring on

this stony soil, I hear the muffled, dull, and mighty tone I am looking for in my painting.

In 1895, Gauguin went back to Tahiti. 27 months later, he returned to France. Gauguin

did not find any refuge in France, though. First, he broke his ankle in a fight about a

mulatto girl with whom he was living.

In passing through Gestel the other day with a comrade, sitting on a

bench

near the church we found two remarkable figures, a young man

raggdly

clothed, with a strange reckless face, and an old man bent over and

leaningon a heavy stick.

The latter was largely built, his legs half naked, and of a dark metalic,

salmon

colour; and his feet thrust into the straw of his enormous sabots, one

ankle

swollen and wounded, it was this infirmity that prevented him from

working

he sat motionless beside his insouciant and listless companion. With

a

heavy grey mat of hair, he was dark-skin'd and look'd like somebedouin; the

flesh was pucker'd round his eyes into innumerable deep wrinkles, as

though some torrid sun were constantly in his eyes: and gazing into

Space,

he seem'd to find in the nothingness always before him and blank of

his

reverie, the same occupation as those old sailors find, sitting for hours

on

the benches of the quays, and gazing at the empty sea. He look'd at us

steadily when we spoke to him, and answer'd our questions slowly. My

companion ask'd him if he would be painted; he made no difficulty.
http://www.nga.gov/image/a0003a/a0003a17.jpg


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When

ask'd where was his home, where he was habitually to be found, he

replied

simply, with that deep and tragic voice that had this accent

naturally, as a

voice heard in a ruin'd and deserted dwelling, because of the solitudeand

bareness of his life, "On the stones" ("sur les pierres",): it was there

that

he sat the greater part of the day, on the cobbles, to receive alms.

Percy Wyndham Lewis

Then an auction sale of his works failed in 1895, and he decided to go back to Tahiti,

and then to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas. This period was captured in his book of

memoires,Noa Noa.

Gauguin suffered a chronic sore on his left ankle, which had refused to heal for more

than two years. This was during his self imposed exile in Tahiti, and he thought the poor

healing was due to the tropical climate. In his last years Gauguin's mobility was

severely restricted, and he endured considerable pain, on account of his ankle. He

became blind and unable to walk. It was later discovered that it was a complication of

his syphilis, which eventually led to his death in 1903 on Hiva Oa Island in the

Marquesas. In March of 1903 he was fined and imprisoned, and two months later was

found dead. Gauguin's native neighbor Tioka, called to see him, announcing his arrival

by shouting 'Koke, Koke" from the bottom of the staircase. To his surprise he received

no answer. After a short hesitation he climbed the stairs and discovered Gauguin lying

an his bed with one leg hanging over the side. Not sure that his friend was really dead,

Tioka resorted to a traditional method and bit his head. Gauguin remained silent and

motionless. In a shrill voice Tioka intoned an ancient Marquesan death lament.When

filling in the death certificate, the priest added, "He was married and a father, but the

name of his wife is unknown."

His work, which was influenced greatly by the native symbolism of Tahiti, included a

wood carving of Christ on the Cross (Stela of Christ). The left foot of Christ is given

greater prominence than any other part of the carving, thus referring to the source of

Gauguin's physical suffering, his infected ankle. This piece therefore, has

autobiographical significance.

Do not paint too much after nature. Art is an abstraction; derive this abstraction from

nature while dreaming before it, and think more of the creation which will result than of

nature.

- letter to Emile

Shuffenecker, 1888

Leone (1509-1590) & Pompeo Leoni (1533-1608)


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The Emperor Charles V Subduing Rage/Violence, Bronze (251 cms. in height), Prado

This bronze is one of the most beautiful pieces of Renaissance Statuary. The two figures

rise up over a plinth, around the circumference of which is the inscription "Caesaris

virtute domitus furor" (Rage dominated by Caesar's valour). On the same plynth, to the

left, there is another inscripition referring to the piece`s creators. In Latin it reads

"Leone, the father, and Pompeo, the son, natives of Arezzo, made this 1564". It is

probable that it was actually Leone who made it and that his son only helped in its

firing. Celebrated in this sculptural group is a victory of the imperial troops; some argue

that it refers to the conquest of Tunis, others that it is the Battle of Mhlberg against the

Protestants. In the figure of the emperor the clothing is removable, revealing a nude

worked in the fashion of the old deified Roman emperors. In his right hand he carries a

lance that has felled the body of his vanquished foe, while in his left he has a sword, the

hilt of which is shaped like an eagle's head.

Shackles and chains around

Documents

Walking as Art[1]