A Stroke of Genius at the Hirshhorn

Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstroke. 1996 (2003)
Painted aluminum, 32’ high

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) was best known for his affiliation with the American Pop art movement that emerged in the 1960’s. His initial success was in painting, but according to Hirshhorn archives, Lichtenstein began creating large-scale sculptures in the 1980’s. The sculpture Brushstroke outside the Hirshhorn Museum is reminiscent of one of his early paintings entitled Little Big Picture. The subject of the painting is brushstrokes with bold, black outlines. 

     Perhaps Lichtenstein reflected upon persistent debates in the visual arts. A controversy among nineteenth-century painters focused on the significance of line versus color. Today these two art elements may seem like the basis for a trivial dispute, but it had major ramifications for painters.  Artists began to paint with color directly on the canvas, instead of layering pigments over a preliminary line drawing. The traditional approach concealed brushstrokes, and pigments were placed in thin layers of glaze on the canvas. This technique made the surface of the painting appear very smooth. In contrast, the new method emphasized direct brushstrokes of color that provided actual texture to the surface of a canvas. This controversial method contributed to a split between academic circles and the avant-garde artists.  Another debate pertained to the hierarchy of subject matter, and formal academies regarded historical and mythological subjects as prestigious.  Lichtenstein recognized the value of very personal mark-making and hence elevated the brushstroke as subject. Another mid-twentieth century American movement, Abstract Expressionism, also valued the immediacy of emotional, gestural mark-making. 

     In 1996, Lichtenstein created a small model for Brushstroke, and the monumental five-ton sculpture was fabricated several years after his death. The viewer cannot ignore the significance of Lichtenstein’s mark-making as the sculpture reaches for the sky. The scale of Lichtenstein’s sculpture also shares affinity with another artist, Claes Oldenburg, who was known for recreating small everyday objects to a massive size as sculpture.

     Lichtenstein’s paintings and sculptures are located in museum collections around the world. Currently, a major retrospective of Lichtenstein’s work is exhibited at The Pompidou Centre in Paris from July until November.

References:

Adams, Laurie Schneider. The Making and Meaning of Art.  New Jersey: Pearson Prentice  Hall, 2007.

Roy Lichtenstein Brushstroke. The Hirshhorn Museum. http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/home/#collection=home&detail=http%3A//www.hirshhorn.si.edu/bio/hirshhorn-acquires-monumental-work-by-roy-lichtenstein/ (accessed July, 9, 2013). 

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History, Third edition. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.

The Centre Pompidou. http://www.centrepompidou.fr/en (accessed July 9, 2013).

The Wind and the Wild at Brookgreen Gardens

Peace Fountain, Sandy Scott. 1996.

Brookgreen Gardens near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina includes over 500 figurative sculptures by more than 200 American artists. In 1931, Archer and Anna Huntington established the sculpture garden on their own estate. Anna was a successful sculptor, and her work is prominently featured throughout the gardens.

     Naturalistic representations of animals may also have allegorical or mythological meaning.  For example, the bronze cast Peace Fountain by Sandy Scott is topped by a bird with wings extended for full flight. Visually, we are convinced that this bird is completely free to glide with the wind. Conceptually, doves and eagles have been recognized symbols for peace and freedom.

     John Borglum’s fascination with wild horses was nourished by direct observations near his own Sierra Madre ranch. Years later, based upon memory and sketches, he created a dynamic group of seven horses in his New York City studio on East 38th Street. The entire group was donated to New York’s Metropolitan Museum, and was originally located at the museum’s main stairway.  The equine triad at Brookgreen is only part of the original group, which was assigned a mythological title by a critic.  The title refers to one of the Twelve Labors of Hercules.  Borglum is probably most famous for his design of the Presidential portraits carved into the peaks of Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota.

Mares of Diomedes, John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum. 1904.

Anna Huntington’s Centaur is also related to ancient Greek mythology.  Cheiron, a composite creature of man and horse, was rewarded with immortality due to his knowledge of medicinal herbs. 

The Centaur Cheiron, Anna Hyatt Huntington. 1936

According to a Brookgreen curatorial plaque, “Cheiron was wounded in battle and preferred death instead of eternal pain. So, Zeus placed Cheiron in the heavens where he became a constellation known as The Archer, Sagittarius.”

 Other famous artists whose sculptures are included in the Brookgreen collection are Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Glenna Goodacre, and Frederic Remington. The fifty acre site is landscaped with magnificent live oak trees and beautifully cultivated flower gardens.






References:

Borglum, John. The Mares of Diomedes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2000-2013. http://metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/20010544
 (accessed June 25, 2013).

Proske, Beatrice Gilman.  Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture. South Carolina: Brookgreen Gardens, 1968.