6.4 — Toward Modern Sculpture
Late 19th-century sculptors broke from academic polish toward expressive surfaces, fragmented form, and new notions of space. Auguste Rodin’s innovations paved the way for Brancusi, Maillol, and others who redefined what sculpture could be as modernism emerged.
Rodin and Expressive Surface
Rodin challenged academic finish with textured modeling and open forms that capture movement and emotion. Partial figures and rough surfaces invite the viewer’s imagination to complete the work.
- The Thinker — originally part of “The Gates of Hell,” a meditation on creative thought.
- The Kiss — sensuous entanglement with soft, modeled surfaces.
- The Burghers of Calais — individualized psychology, heavy drapery, and ground-level display.
Abstraction and Reduction
As the century turned, sculptors simplified form, emphasizing essential profiles and volumes over detailed naturalism.
- Constantin Brancusi: “Bird in Space,” “Sleeping Muse” — polished surfaces, streamlined silhouettes distilling essence.
- Aristide Maillol: Monumental nudes with calm, weighty volumes and classical repose.
- Medardo Rosso: Wax and plaster heads dissolving into light, foregrounding atmosphere over anatomy.
Definition: Direct Carving
A process in which the sculptor carves directly into stone or wood, responding to the material’s properties rather than working first in clay for later casting.
Materials and Methods
Bronze casting (lost-wax), marble carving, and new uses of wood and plaster expanded formal possibilities. Patinas, tool marks, and intentional incompletion became expressive choices rather than flaws.
Space, Fragment, and the Viewer
Fragments (torsos, isolated limbs) and open compositions invite viewers to move around the work, activating space. Bases become part of the sculpture’s statement, not merely supports.
Note: From Figure to Idea
By stripping away detail, modern sculptors emphasized rhythm, balance, and inner resonance—setting the stage for fully abstract forms in the 20th century.
Looking Ahead
Next, Chapter 7.1 enters the early 20th-century avant-garde—Fauvism and Expressionism—where painting and sculpture alike push color, form, and emotion into new territory.