Customer Reviews

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

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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.