Sculpture
As with painting, the earliest example of sculpture dates back to the Upper Palaeolithic period (40,000 to 10,000 years ago). During this period stone and ivory were used to create small female figures. It wasn’t until the Greeks used bronze casting that life size figures were represented in sculpture.
A sculpture, technically, is a three-dimensional work of art that is usually created by moulding or shaping materials – often metal, marble, wood, glass or bronze. A two-dimensional form of sculpture exists, where the object is not fully detached from its background, which is typically described as relief carving. Common uses of relief carving are in depicting a scene in which many figures interact on a detailed landscape. Often sculptures are painted, but the paint tends to wear away over time.
The four well-know techniques to make sculpture are:
- Carving using stone, wood, ivory or bone.
- Modelling in clay or wax.
- Casting is a very popular method, where liquid in the form of bronze is poured into a cast and hardened. The lost wax process is a technique used to produce casts where a clay and plaster mould take on wax which is melted through a vent and molten metal is poured in to replace it. Another simpler technique is sand casting which uses moulds made out of compacted fine sand.
Assemblage sculpture is when several different — often found — materials or objects are used within one work.
Three dimensions are real space. That gets rid of the problem of illusion and of literal space, space in and around marks and colour (…) Actual space is infinitely more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface.
Donald Judd – Artist
Owning Art: The Contemporary Art Collector’s Handbook by Louisa Buck and Judith Greer, Cultureshock Media, 2006
Looking for galleries who stock this artform?
Why not explore our member galleries
National Trust, Cotehele House, Cotehele, Saltash, Cornwall, PL12 6TA
Unit 15, Red House Glass Cone,, High St,, Wordsley, DY8 4AZ, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY8 4AZ
Liberation Art Gallery, 38 Meeting House Lane, Brighton, East Sussex, BN11HB
The Rutland Gallery, 27 High Street East, Uppingham, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 9PY
LS1 7BR, 8 & 9, The Balcony, Corn Exchange, Call Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 7BR
Workplace Foundation, 12 Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 4HZ
Southwark Park Galleries, 1 Park Approach, Southwark Park, London, London, SE16 2UA
Danby Lodge National Park Centre, Lodge Lane, Danby, Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO21 2NB
Laura I.Gallery, Icehouse Court, Abbey Road, Barking, Essex, IG11 7BT
Railway Cottage, Behind Bass Warehouse, Off Castle Street, Manchester, M3 4LZ
Unit 3C, Mardleybury Farm, Mardleybury Road, Datchworth, Hertfordshire, SG36SG
Tamarisk Gallery, The Parade, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, TR21 0LP
Dora House, 108 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 3RA
The Ropewalk, Maltkiln Road, Barton upon Humber, North Lincolnshire, DN18 5LT
24 Church Street, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 3EG
St Anne's Court, 59 North Street, BT1 1NB, Belfast, Antrim, BT1 1NB
The Paragon Gallery, 4 Rotunda Terrace, Montpellier Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1SW
Hang-Up Pictures Ltd, 10D Branch Place, Regents Canal, Hoxton, London, N1 5PH
Leeds City Art Gallery, The Headrow, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 3AB
Outside In, PO Box 810,, Chichester,, PO19 9WF, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 9WF
83-85 Town Street, Sandsgate Building, Farsley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS28 5UJ
The Customs House Gallery, Commercial Road, Porthleven, Cornwall, TR13 9JD
The Barony Centre, 50 Main Street, West Kilbride, North Ayrshire, KA23 9AR
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
45 Eldon Garden Shopping Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE1 7RA
Royal West of England Academy, Queens Road, Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1PX
Register House, Zetland Street, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL6 1NA
193 Bath Street, ScotlandArt.com Gallery, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G2 4HU
Gallery Q Dundee, Queens Hotel Buildings, 160 Nethergate, Dundee, Angus, DD1 4DU
30 Gray Street, Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Broughty Ferry Dundee, Angus, DD5 2BJ
Art Forms
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