DOI Heft:
Nr. 342 (November 1925)
DOI Artikel:Elmore, Richard: Sports in American sculpture
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19986#0098
ItlCeRTlAClOnAL
Sports in 'American Sculpture
r^poRT is the common Figures of the athletic field which marked the Olympi-
^ denominator of Amer- nave served as inspiration ads were simple enough, the
icanlife. It links in its fa m , contem. attitudes were not special-
great equation scholar and < , ized, the motions not stan-
stoker; millionaires and hu- porary SCULptors ^ dardized.
man millions; bootblacks RI (SHARD ELMORE Tnat 11 IS possible for
and bibliophiles. Its steel- the artist to meet all the
thewed heroes and its rangy-framed heroines are requirements of form in the technical athletic
worshipped alike in office and elevator car; in sense, as well as to satisfy the upholders of the
parlor and in kitchen. All the arts are bidden to laws of composition, is being demonstrated con-
glorify its favorites of diamond, ring and gridiron tinuously in the field of modern sport sculpture,
and to exalt its triumphs of muscle over matter. Mrs. Laura Gardin Fraser, for example, has pro-
The graphic skill of the illustrator, the all-seeing duced only recently the figure of a golfer in all
eye of the camera, the magic of the silver screen the toggery of tweed, which the most exacting
and the brush of the painter celebrate the forms "pros" declare to be accurate in detail and
and faces of its super- "victory" by evelyn longman batchelder impeccable in pose.
champions. The plas-
tic art often receive
commissions to create
monuments, memo-
rials, trophies, images,
reliefs and medals ded-
icated to the deeds
and poses of the idols
of the athletic age.
Modern sculpture
in responding to the
call has a problem of
presentation far more
difficult than that with
which classic antiq-
uity had to cope.
Phidias and Praxiteles
in making their studies
of the human form
were inspired by the
sight of athletes in
training for the games
of Greece. They saw-
youth and strength in
the nude and selected
from many types the
lines and curves which
enabled them to real-
ize their ideals. The
garb of the contenders
in all the ancient
sports was nothing in
detail as compared
with the apparel of
twentieth-century
contests. The rules of
the competitions
To put even scant ap-
parel on a figure and
to make the observer
feel that there is a real
body under the cloth
is an undertaking that
challenges all the skill
and knowledge of the
twentieth-century
sculptor. Dr. R. Tait
Mackenzie, who han-
dles the scalpel of the
atelier and of operat-
ing room equally well,
succeeds admirably in
doing that, because of
his skill both as an
anatomist and as a
director of physical
education. He has
trained young men in
the games of track and
field and studied their
muscles in action. His
earliest sculptures, it
will be remembered,
were ideal figures
made from hundreds
of measurements he
had taken at the Uni-
versity of Pennsyl-
vania, in connection
with his duties as a
professor in the medi-
cal department of that
institution.
His "The Compet-
ninety-eight
november i 9 2 j
Sports in 'American Sculpture
r^poRT is the common Figures of the athletic field which marked the Olympi-
^ denominator of Amer- nave served as inspiration ads were simple enough, the
icanlife. It links in its fa m , contem. attitudes were not special-
great equation scholar and < , ized, the motions not stan-
stoker; millionaires and hu- porary SCULptors ^ dardized.
man millions; bootblacks RI (SHARD ELMORE Tnat 11 IS possible for
and bibliophiles. Its steel- the artist to meet all the
thewed heroes and its rangy-framed heroines are requirements of form in the technical athletic
worshipped alike in office and elevator car; in sense, as well as to satisfy the upholders of the
parlor and in kitchen. All the arts are bidden to laws of composition, is being demonstrated con-
glorify its favorites of diamond, ring and gridiron tinuously in the field of modern sport sculpture,
and to exalt its triumphs of muscle over matter. Mrs. Laura Gardin Fraser, for example, has pro-
The graphic skill of the illustrator, the all-seeing duced only recently the figure of a golfer in all
eye of the camera, the magic of the silver screen the toggery of tweed, which the most exacting
and the brush of the painter celebrate the forms "pros" declare to be accurate in detail and
and faces of its super- "victory" by evelyn longman batchelder impeccable in pose.
champions. The plas-
tic art often receive
commissions to create
monuments, memo-
rials, trophies, images,
reliefs and medals ded-
icated to the deeds
and poses of the idols
of the athletic age.
Modern sculpture
in responding to the
call has a problem of
presentation far more
difficult than that with
which classic antiq-
uity had to cope.
Phidias and Praxiteles
in making their studies
of the human form
were inspired by the
sight of athletes in
training for the games
of Greece. They saw-
youth and strength in
the nude and selected
from many types the
lines and curves which
enabled them to real-
ize their ideals. The
garb of the contenders
in all the ancient
sports was nothing in
detail as compared
with the apparel of
twentieth-century
contests. The rules of
the competitions
To put even scant ap-
parel on a figure and
to make the observer
feel that there is a real
body under the cloth
is an undertaking that
challenges all the skill
and knowledge of the
twentieth-century
sculptor. Dr. R. Tait
Mackenzie, who han-
dles the scalpel of the
atelier and of operat-
ing room equally well,
succeeds admirably in
doing that, because of
his skill both as an
anatomist and as a
director of physical
education. He has
trained young men in
the games of track and
field and studied their
muscles in action. His
earliest sculptures, it
will be remembered,
were ideal figures
made from hundreds
of measurements he
had taken at the Uni-
versity of Pennsyl-
vania, in connection
with his duties as a
professor in the medi-
cal department of that
institution.
His "The Compet-
ninety-eight
november i 9 2 j