Page 30 - Studio International - December 1965

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PHOTOS: ROLAND ESSEN

would. for instance. have been fascinating and reward­ Michelangelo's David or Moses, although they already
ing to analyse the continuous influence of the Hellenic bear the seeds of mortality. Rodin's figure is quite
tradition. or how the influence was affected by definitely that of a man; and his head is roughly torn
European or Christian needs. and, further, how and at his neck. his arms broken at the wrists. a forerunner
when the tradition was discarded. of contemporary British images like those of Ayrton.
One of the most magnificent sights in the exhibition Meadows. Brown. Frink. Richmond. This is a symbol
was a Rodin bronze, one of the studies for the Bourgeois of a fallen civilisation, not of an optimistic society.
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Part of the display of de Calais, standing on an open plateau before a It is preciseiy this kind of spiritual and artistic diverg­
P1casso·s bronze 'Ba1he1s· 195 7 superb sun-drenched view of the Acropolis, with the ence and development which the exhibition could have
Galerie Louis Leiris
Parthenon on its summit and the arches of the Roman illustrated. We could have measured influences and
2 Herod Atticus Theatre at its spur. The powerful. manners. not merely through the narrow limits of
Brancusi 1876-1957
LeCoq1941 graceful figure reminded one of bronzes in the Archae­ techniques and styles. which seem to obsess artists
Bronze
Musee d'Art Moderne. Paris ological Museum; one could see a direct line from and critics. but in the more meaningful delineation of
Periclean Greece to 19th century Paris. albeit via the human dilemma.
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Germaine Richier 1904-1959 Michelangelo's Florence. But at the same time one In the work of Bourdelle. Maillol. Despiau, Pompon,
L'Orage and L'Ouragane 1948 was aware of important differences. The great figure in the female nudes of Renoir and Degas. in the heroic
Bronze
Galerie Creuzevault. Paris of Zeus (or Poseidon) in the Athens Museum is a god male studies of the Yugoslav sculptor Mestrovic, even
as well as a man; he stands full of dignity. detached in a delicated moulded torso of Gargallo. there was
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Antoine Pevsner 1886-1962 from ordinary human cares, his arms widespread. ample evidence of the abiding influence of Greece. A
Oiseau Phenix 1957
Bronze calmly greeting life. This conception is much closer to younger artist like Germain Richier illustrated the
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