• 3D form
• usually nonutilitarian
• often a reflection of the society from which it was produced

• to send a message
• beautify their surroundings (church, courtyard, etc.)
• express religious beliefs
• sheer joy of using their hands

Origins of Sculpture:

• small carvings- 30,000 years old
• used materials at hand-stone, bone, shell
• meaning is unclear- most likely held special symbols and religious meaning

(Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyerians, and Persian people)

• small scale or monumental (no inbetween)
• marble, stone, precious metal
• subject: portraits of rulers, images of court life-including importance of government

• Greeks copied Romans
• focused on achieving perfection of the human form
• focused on the individual- became naturalistic, yet idealized

400 AD

(roughly)

Migrations of people and nomadic changes

• small, portable, metal sculpture
• animal themes
• personal adornment or weapons

• closely tied to religion
• stone reliefs and large scale figures
• typically for church

Americas:

(Stone, clay, and feathers)

MAYA:

• Mexico
• clay figures
• rulers moreso than everyday life

Americas:

Inca

• South America
• metal work
• mainly for palaces- thrones, plates, decor

Americas:

Pueblo Indians

• Kachinas (dolls)
• not for worship
• symbollic (protection, fertility)

Americas:

Northwest Coast Tribes

• masks
• totem making

• do not use traditional methods-some traditional materials
• use abstraction (simplification and elimination of detail)

• Constantin Brancusi- Bird in Space 1951
• Henry Moore- Reclining Figure 1951 (human figure)
• Alexander Calder- Red Mobile 1956 (kinetic art)
• Marcel Duchamp- bicycle wheel 1951 (ready made)
• Louside Nevelson- homage to the world 1966
• Red Grooms- walking along broadway towards Grace Church