Sculpting Techniques and Methods - Which is the Best? (Part II)

Bronze Sculpture

Using bronze to make a metal sculpture results in a sculpture that is just called a bronze. Bronze sculptures are the most popular type of sculptures. Artists that specialize in making human figures often will do them in bronze because bronze is the best material to use for a statue or a sculpture that is highly detailed.

One of the reasons that bronze is a material that sculptors like to work with is because bronze has a unique characteristic. When bronze is heated and poured into a mold or a cast of the statue or sculpture it will expand just before it hardens. That expansion usually will fill in any extra fine details or ornate sculpting that the artist has created so that the artist can create extremely detailed sculptures.

Even though making bronze sculptures is very popular among artists the process of making an actual bronze can be complicated. Sculptors usually use the lost wax cast method to create wax models of the artwork that they want to produce first to make sure that they have the design right.

Lost wax casting is a tedious process but a very important one in making bronzes. First the artist will make a full scale model of the statue or sculpture, usually in plastic. A mold is made from that plastic model. That mold is usually made from plaster and will serve as the master version of the statue.

Once there is a plaster mold that is empty the artist will pour hot wax into that mold and let it set. Once the wax hardens that figure is removed and checked for any mistakes or problems. If that figure is perfect then another mold is made around that figure that has vents. Then the max is melted to liquid form and then is released as vapor through the vents in the model. Finally the molten bronze is poured into the mold. Once it has set, the sculpture is ready to be displayed or to be polished with a little more detailing.

Bronze is the material of choice for any sculptor that creates human statues or statues that are in action poses. Bronze is much more durable than most of the other metals used for sculpting because it holds up well under most conditions and it is not as soft or as breakable as other types of metal.

Bronzes are all very popular when making sculptures for home decoration. A lot of artists that want to sell home decor items use a bronze process known as ormolu. Ormolu is the process of gilding a bronze sculpture like a wall sconce for candles, or a sculptural element that is going to be used in a lamp or on a table.

Ormolu first become popular in France in the 18th century but is still used a lot today by sculptors that want to make fun sculptures that are useful and pretty to have in the home as well.

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Aristide Maillol - A French Master of Twentieth Century Figure Sculpting

Aristide Joseph-Bonaventure Maillol, Aristides Maillol, or Aristide Maillol is well recognized as one of the greatest French Catalan sculptors of his time. He was a painter too. Born in Banyuls-sur-Mer, on December 8, 1861, his father was a ship captain, an angler, and a cultivator of vineyards. Maillol attended a local school initially and went to Perpignan to complete his education. All this while, he developed interest in art at an early age and aspired to be a painter. To further his creative inclination, in 1881, he moved to Paris, and started studying at Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, from 1885. There, he was trained under Jean-Leon Gerome and Alexandre Cabanel. Like many other late nineteenth century artists, Aristide too found his teachers sterile & pointless for the most part, and soon grew restless with their academic teachings. Disappointed, Mallilol joined the Nabi's group with Bonnard and Vuillard, and started painting as a Post-Impressionist, with Symbolist influence.

In 1884, Maillol saw his contemporaries, Paul Gauguin's and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes', paintings that deeply impressed him. He then got interested in 'Decorative Arts' and started 'Tapestry Designing.' In 1893, Maillol returned to Banyuls and opened a tapestry workshop there. He would create the designs and dyed the wools in vibrant and unique colors. High technicality & the aesthetic quality of his works, while also credited with reviving the 'Tapestry Designing' art form, soon fetched him recognition. Soon however, Maillol had to shut his tapestry shop, due to his weakening eyesight. He though stopped designing tapestries, but continued working as a 'Graphic Artist.'

Aristide Maillol began sculpting with terra cotta and wood in 1898. He returned to Paris in 1900 to concentrate full time on the art form. In 1902, Maillol had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Vollard. In 1903, he settled in Marly-le-roi, on the outskirts of Paris, where he also built his studio in 1904. By 1905, Maillol's works were cast in bronze. The same year, the artist gained true fame when his first large statue "The Mediterranean" was highly appreciated at the Salon d'Automne exhibition.

The main subject of Artisde's sculptural works was the mature female form, treated with 'stable' gestures, flavored with 'Classicism,' such as in "The Night" (1902) and "The Pomona" (1907). Often his works were repetitive in essence, differing only in their names. Overall, his sculptures were known for their simplicity, grace, and harmonious balance. His style, although similar to Greek and Roman sculptures, had a certain degree of sensuousness and dignity integrated in them. Aristide's style remained unchanged through the years, the only exception being his work on the monuments he built in the memory of Socialist Louis Blanqui (Chained Action, 1906).

By 1910, Aristide Maillol was famous worldwide and he received a number of commissions for monuments, including war memorials for Ceret and Banyuls. His other impressive works were "Three Nymphs" (1936-1938), "The Mountain" (1937), "Air" (1938), and "The River" (1938-43). Three of his bronze masterpieces, "Summer" (1910-11), "Venus without arms" (1920), and "Kneeling Woman: Monument to Debussy" (1950-55), grace the staircase of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. In 1912, Maillol even made woodcuts, illustrating Daphnis & Chloe and the works of Ovid & Vergil. He died in Banyuls in an auto accident on September 27, 1944, at the age of eighty-three.

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