DOI Heft:
Nr. 335 (April 1925)
DOI Artikel:Agard, Walter Raymond: The sculptural portrait
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19985#0024
mceKHACionAL
"portrait of voltaire" by houdon
simplest design, and the hair is merely sketchily
indicated. As usual, Houdon increased the inten-
sity of expression by the technical device of hol-
lowing out the balls of the eyes with a high wedge
left at the top.
Another sculptor who is a past master of the
psychological record is Jacob Epstein. His "Amer-
ican Soldier" may be taken for an example. Here
again, a few characteristic elements reveal the
personality, while everything else is reduced in
value to background. If volonte won the war, as
Marechal Foch insists it did, here it is incarnate.
The obstinate carriage of the head, the lower lip
and the eyes tell the story. The chin might have
been weak by itself, but the lower lip, obeying a
stern will, dominates the entire face. The eyes are
guiltless of any theatricalism, but the worn ridges
around and between them are just sufficient to
reinforce the impression of the mouth. The hair
does not matter, neither does the rough blouse,
nor even the texture of the skin. All these simply
throw into high relief the mam lines of expres-
sion. With the same relentless insight Epstein
has modeled in many of his bronze heads the
lines of intense weariness and pain.
Among Americans who have excelled in such
portraiture, one of the ablest and certainly the
most facile is Jo Davidson, whose series of por-
traits of the Allied War leaders, as well as his
more recent work, have proved beyond doubt
his ability.
But artists have never been content either
with a surface likeness or with that deeper
psychological record which reveals alike the
sitter's character and the artist's penetration. A
portrait may be more than a portrait—it may
be a work of art. That is to say, regardless of
its similarity to a model, it may be so con-
structed in terms of line and mass that it will be
a source of esthetic delight.
It is in such terms that the Greeks apparently
evaluated portrait sculpture,until the Hellenistic
days of realism. Myron, if we are to take the
word of Petronius, was a master of the character
portrait, "who could almost catch the souls of
"an american soldier" by jacob epstein
twenty-Jour
april 1925
"portrait of voltaire" by houdon
simplest design, and the hair is merely sketchily
indicated. As usual, Houdon increased the inten-
sity of expression by the technical device of hol-
lowing out the balls of the eyes with a high wedge
left at the top.
Another sculptor who is a past master of the
psychological record is Jacob Epstein. His "Amer-
ican Soldier" may be taken for an example. Here
again, a few characteristic elements reveal the
personality, while everything else is reduced in
value to background. If volonte won the war, as
Marechal Foch insists it did, here it is incarnate.
The obstinate carriage of the head, the lower lip
and the eyes tell the story. The chin might have
been weak by itself, but the lower lip, obeying a
stern will, dominates the entire face. The eyes are
guiltless of any theatricalism, but the worn ridges
around and between them are just sufficient to
reinforce the impression of the mouth. The hair
does not matter, neither does the rough blouse,
nor even the texture of the skin. All these simply
throw into high relief the mam lines of expres-
sion. With the same relentless insight Epstein
has modeled in many of his bronze heads the
lines of intense weariness and pain.
Among Americans who have excelled in such
portraiture, one of the ablest and certainly the
most facile is Jo Davidson, whose series of por-
traits of the Allied War leaders, as well as his
more recent work, have proved beyond doubt
his ability.
But artists have never been content either
with a surface likeness or with that deeper
psychological record which reveals alike the
sitter's character and the artist's penetration. A
portrait may be more than a portrait—it may
be a work of art. That is to say, regardless of
its similarity to a model, it may be so con-
structed in terms of line and mass that it will be
a source of esthetic delight.
It is in such terms that the Greeks apparently
evaluated portrait sculpture,until the Hellenistic
days of realism. Myron, if we are to take the
word of Petronius, was a master of the character
portrait, "who could almost catch the souls of
"an american soldier" by jacob epstein
twenty-Jour
april 1925