DOI Heft:
Nr. 201 (November, 1913)
DOI Artikel:Lamont, Jessie: Impressions in the studio of an animal sculptor
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43454#0130
Impressions in the Studio of an Animal Sculptor
self exclusively to this phase of art in its sculp-
tural form.
Mr. Harvey’s studies of animals were made in
Paris at the private menageries of the Fetes
Foreign at Neuilly and Asnieres, and the Jardin
des Plantes, and later in the New York Zoological
Gardens and in Central Park.
Those animals which are removed from one cage
to another, as is done in some of the gardens in
Paris, are more alive and vital as models, for even
this slight change breaks into the dullness that
results from close confinement. The animals seem
to become familiar with the sculptor’s presence
and gaze at him curiously as he pursues his work.
The sculptor’s completed work in clay is not the
perfected work of art, as is the painter’s canvas
when his brush work is finished; other hands repro-
duce the clay model in marble or bronze. The
marble cutting is done by the artist’s assistant, by
measurements taken from a cast of the clay model.
Any change or emphasis of line is indicated by the
sculptor by marking with a pencil on the marble,
and the assistant or marble-cutter completes the
work.
The casting into bronze is done by two methods:
The sand casting, which is the more mechanical
process, is better adapted to large pieces of work.
The result of this method depends upon the
fidelity of the casting; retouching is difficult, for
the artist cannot readily work on the metal, as the
material is hard and does not yield to plastic
handling, although a “chasing,” or finish, is some-
times given, to bring out greater sharpness of line
The effect of this finish is, however, mechanical
and undesirable, and the chisel should rarely be
used, excepting to erase lines or seams caused by
removing the molds from the bronze.
In the wax or “cire perdue” casting, the sculp-
tor can work with a heated tool in a sympathetic
way in the wax, and thus bring out a distinctness
of cutting, a clearer outline. This form of casting
is one of the oldest known methods and is much
favored by the Italians. It is most valuable for
small pieces of work, as it gives, greater delicacy of
finish.
The bronzes that have come from the casting
may be colored by two processes. The lacquer of
the French bronze is colored by resorting to a pig-
ment of powder. This lacquer is applied as a
coating, which obliterates to some extent the
delicacy of line, the finer tracery of the modeling.
It is much used in the cheaper and more commer-
cial bronzes.
Mr. Harvey tones his own bronzes entirely by
the application of an acid patina, which, by sub-
jection to more or less heat, produces brown,
green or reddish shades. The process preserves
the utmost fineness of modeling.
The color produced by the application of acids
is a natural chemical process, forced by heat and
gives light and shade, life and movement, to the
figures, while the lines and contours of each of
these animals reveals its native element, even the
geography of its environment.
RECUMBENT LIONESS
BY ELI HARVEY
CVIII
self exclusively to this phase of art in its sculp-
tural form.
Mr. Harvey’s studies of animals were made in
Paris at the private menageries of the Fetes
Foreign at Neuilly and Asnieres, and the Jardin
des Plantes, and later in the New York Zoological
Gardens and in Central Park.
Those animals which are removed from one cage
to another, as is done in some of the gardens in
Paris, are more alive and vital as models, for even
this slight change breaks into the dullness that
results from close confinement. The animals seem
to become familiar with the sculptor’s presence
and gaze at him curiously as he pursues his work.
The sculptor’s completed work in clay is not the
perfected work of art, as is the painter’s canvas
when his brush work is finished; other hands repro-
duce the clay model in marble or bronze. The
marble cutting is done by the artist’s assistant, by
measurements taken from a cast of the clay model.
Any change or emphasis of line is indicated by the
sculptor by marking with a pencil on the marble,
and the assistant or marble-cutter completes the
work.
The casting into bronze is done by two methods:
The sand casting, which is the more mechanical
process, is better adapted to large pieces of work.
The result of this method depends upon the
fidelity of the casting; retouching is difficult, for
the artist cannot readily work on the metal, as the
material is hard and does not yield to plastic
handling, although a “chasing,” or finish, is some-
times given, to bring out greater sharpness of line
The effect of this finish is, however, mechanical
and undesirable, and the chisel should rarely be
used, excepting to erase lines or seams caused by
removing the molds from the bronze.
In the wax or “cire perdue” casting, the sculp-
tor can work with a heated tool in a sympathetic
way in the wax, and thus bring out a distinctness
of cutting, a clearer outline. This form of casting
is one of the oldest known methods and is much
favored by the Italians. It is most valuable for
small pieces of work, as it gives, greater delicacy of
finish.
The bronzes that have come from the casting
may be colored by two processes. The lacquer of
the French bronze is colored by resorting to a pig-
ment of powder. This lacquer is applied as a
coating, which obliterates to some extent the
delicacy of line, the finer tracery of the modeling.
It is much used in the cheaper and more commer-
cial bronzes.
Mr. Harvey tones his own bronzes entirely by
the application of an acid patina, which, by sub-
jection to more or less heat, produces brown,
green or reddish shades. The process preserves
the utmost fineness of modeling.
The color produced by the application of acids
is a natural chemical process, forced by heat and
gives light and shade, life and movement, to the
figures, while the lines and contours of each of
these animals reveals its native element, even the
geography of its environment.
RECUMBENT LIONESS
BY ELI HARVEY
CVIII