![]() ![]() 2), made as a base to support another sculpture. Brancusi, moreover, displayed as independent works The Newborn (1915), designed without a base, and Caryatid (1914/1915) (Fig. Here, every component can be seen as part of the artwork. The artist was not content to offer simply a finished work he was also concerned with the orchestration of a total visual effect. Not only does the base determine the height at which the work is displayed, but the differences in shape, color, material, and surface texture of the various elements work together to produce a complex concerto of meaning and effect. ![]() ![]() The wood square is surmounted by a piece of limestone carved into a cruciform shape, and this is topped, in turn, by polished marble. Moving from the bottom to the top, we find first two forms made of oak: an irregularly shaped pedestal in which the marks of the sculptor's chisel are still evident, and, on top of this, a sawn square. 1) in The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Let us look, for example, at Blonde Negress II (1933) (Fig. The relationship between Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) and the bases he used for his sculptures was a complex and productive one. By bringing the sculpture down to the level of the viewer, it may well have opened the way for a revised conception of the relationship between work and viewer, raising the issue of physical presence in sculpture. While that decision certainly helped make clear the meaning of this particular monument, it also had more general implications. Rodin's aim was not to honor only Eustache de Saint-Pierre as the sole hero whose sacrifice assured the freedom of Calais rather, by placing the group of burghers at eye level, he wished to emphasize the suffering of the entire citizenry. If we believe what the artist later said to Paul Gsell, he actually preferred there to be no base at all: " I do not want any type of base for the sculpture group ". Rodin initially vacillated between a traditional high pedestal for his sculpture group and the revolutionary use of a low base. It is generally agreed that Auguste Rodin's (1840-1917) memorial sculpture The Burghers of Calais (1889) was a defining moment in the modernist approach to the base. Modernism has viewed the traditional role of the base with deep suspicion, actively rejecting it as useless and even making its presence a basis for criticizing a work. The role of elevating the image and enforcing the essential verticality of the monument was given to the base on which the statue was placed. They turned skyward, towering above the crowds. As monuments, these images were separate from the hustle and bustle of the city. Sculptures depicted gods, saints, figures of myth and allegory, statesmen and heroes. We looked up at a statue, and the statue looked down at us. At one time, sculptures occupied lofty places. ![]()
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