A Marble Quarry: The James H. Ricau Collection of American Sculpture at the Chrysler Museum of Art [Hardcover]

H. Nichols liB. Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 1997

Celebrates the opening of the permanent installation of the Ricau Collection at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Hudson Hills Press; 1st edition (November 11, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555951317
• ISBN-13: 978-1555951313
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #647,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Marble Quarry Worth Viewing, February 19, 2007

By 

Charles Beck (Framingham State College, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Marble Quarry: The James H. Ricau Collection of American Sculpture at the Chrysler Museum of Art (Hardcover)

This book contains a remarkable collection of American neoclassical sculpture of the 19th century. It includes 70 masterworks by 30 famous sculptors. Although neoclassicism first flowered in Europe, this book clearly illustrates that America produced its own distinguished school of neoclassical sculptors, including Hiram Powers, Chauncey Ives, Joseph Mozier, Thomas Crawford, and William Rinehart. This collection of sculpture will make you want to visit the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, which acquired the exhibit from the collector, James H. Ricau. The author, Nichols Clark, provides excellent notes on each work and biographical sketches of each sculptor.

As someone who has visited many museums in America and abroad, I particularly enjoy photographing sculpture because of its three-dimensional and immortal qualities. The 73 colorplates and 135 black-and-whites are, for the most part, of outstanding quality, especially the statuary that is photographed against dark curtained backgrounds. Although I would prefer to see more use of subtle shadows to accent physical features and to capture the three-dimensional aspects of the works, the details are clearly defined and offset by the contrasting backgrounds. Although most of the works convey a pure, graceful, and elegant persona, reminiscent of Canova and Houdon, some evoke a more personal, emotional, and empathetic sense, such as a boy holding a dead bird and a girl with a broken tambourine.

I don't know of any artistic still-life medium that captures the sense of immortality any better than statuary sculpture. It should be noted that this neoclassical collection has a strong romantic, poetic, idealistic, and, sometimes mythological flavor, and it may not particularly appeal to viewers who prefer more abstract and modernistic sculpture. While artistic tastes may change over time, there is no denying that neoclassical sculptors produced an exquisite number of immortal masterpieces.