Sculpture

A branch of the visual arts traditionally typified for being solid and three dimensional. Media used to create sculpture including stone, bronze, pottery and wood. In their appearance, sculptures may be divided into two categories, either free-standing (in the round) or adjoined to a background surface (relief).

With the development of plastic art in the 20th and 21st century, the definition of sculpture was broadened to include works specifically concerned with the three-dimensional form.


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Ivory Cleopatra sculpture blocked from export in hope UK buyer found

22 December 2020

An export block on Death of Cleopatra by Henri de Triqueti, an ivory sculpture with British royal connections, has been announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

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Busts of tragic Roman duo take £106,000

14 December 2020

This pair of life-size bronze busts depict the tragic young figures Publius Septimus Geta, son of emperor Septimus Severus, and his sister-in-law Plautilla.

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A John Knibb clock dial and a bronze portrait of WB Yeats’ muse are among the five lots to watch at auction

30 November 2020

With estimates from £120-3000, here are five previews of upcoming items this week.

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Sleep thinkers at winter edition of London Art Week

30 November 2020

A marble relief, 'Sleep' by French sculptor and doll-maker Albert Marque (1872-1947), is among the highlights on offer at this winter’s edition of London Art Week (LAW).

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Barlach on song as bronze sculpture cast comes to Cologne sale

30 November 2020

Many of the German sculptor Ernst Barlach’s works have a musical connection and none more so than the bronze 'Der singende Mann' (The Singing Man).

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Cambodian Khmer carved stone statue offered at Christie’s in Paris

23 November 2020

This Cambodian Khmer carved stone statue of a male divinity is one of the highlights of the Asian Art sale at Christie’s in Paris on December 10.

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Fernando Botero sculpture emerges at Van Ham in Cologne

16 November 2020

The Colombian artist Fernando Botero is primarily known for his exaggerated painted portrayals of people, a style that he also applied to his still-lifes and now goes by the name of Boterismo.

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Marshall M Fredericks bronze sets the spirit free at New York sale

16 November 2020

Included in Stair Galleries’ December 3 sale of Modern and Contemporary Art, Furniture and Objects in Hudson, New York, is this 2ft x 14in x 10in (62 x 35 x 25cm) green-patinated bronze by Marshall M Fredericks.

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Pick of the week: Toso’s ‘Monsieur and Madame Satan’

26 October 2020

Relatively little is known about the 19th century woodcarver Francesco Toso, who was born in Murano, Venice, to a family of glass makers.

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Bronzes turns heads in Salisbury

26 October 2020

Two pieces of bronze sculpture from the Woolley & Wallis sale on October 6-7

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Wildlife sculptures burst into sale life

12 October 2020

A number of wildlife sculptures, a niche sub-set of the Mod Brit art market, have performed well recently – perhaps as a result of the increased love of the natural world experienced by many during the lockdown crossing over into the art market.

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Variations on a theme

05 October 2020

On October 21, Freeman’s in Philadelphia will mark Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday by offering a collection of 12 portrait bronzes of the composer by French sculptor Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929).

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Skeaping ahead: bronze equestrian group leaps over estimate in Poole

28 September 2020

Just occasionally it doesn’t always pay to catalogue with great depth.

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Bust thought to be Henri IV on offer at French auction

14 September 2020

Aguttes stages a sale of paintings, works of art and furniture titled Passion Patrimoine taking place at Neuilly-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris on September 22.

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Piamontini’s ‘ravishingly detailed’ clay model discovered at Fife estate and triples estimate at Lyon & Turnbull

07 September 2020

This terracotta group of Bacchus and Ariadne was once associated with the Florentine late Baroque sculptor Giambattista Foggini (1652-1725) but is now thought to be his contemporary Giuseppe Piamontini (1664-1742).

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Pick of the week: Bronze reflecting blossoming of Buddhism in China makes at £50,000 at TimeLine

07 September 2020

The Northern Wei dynasty (386-534 AD), founded by the nomadic Tuoba clan, was the most long-lived and most powerful of the northern dynasties prior to the reunification of China under the Sui. Most importantly for Chinese art history, the ruling royal family were converts to Buddhism.

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Statues surface from sunken garden site after decades in the undergrowth

24 August 2020

An extraordinary cache of garden statuary, unseen for decades, comes for sale at Summers Place Auctions next month.

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Film producer buys Seacole bust for 101 times the estimate

10 August 2020

A terracotta sculpture of Mary Seacole (1805-81) sparked fierce competition at Dominic Winter.

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Bust of British-Jamaican Crimean War heroine Mary Seacole sells for £101,000 at auction and heads to Nightingale Museum

04 August 2020

A terracotta sculpture of Mary Seacole (1805-81), who nursed dying and wounded soldiers during the Crimean War, will go on display in the Florence Nightingale Museum after it was sold at auction last week.

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Individual highlights at London 'high season' sales but totals hit as vendors hang on to works

03 August 2020

The ‘high season’ of summer auctions in London held by Sotheby’s and Christie’s generated £205.8m including premium last week.

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