Self-Portrait with Sculpture The MET Breuer (23)
John De Andrea American 1941 –
Self-Portrait with Sculpture, 1980
Polyvinyl, polychromed in oil
While recognizable as a modern iteration of the Pygmalion myth, this female sculpture is animated less by the sculptor’s apparent desire than by the illusionistic application of layers of paint, gradually suffusing her with life color. The internalized gaze of the artist/sculptor is undistracted beyond the nude presence of the female figure. In place of an erotic charge between the two figures, the Galatea-like model sits expectantly for the artist to complete the task, while De Andrea acknowledges the primacy of skin pigment in enlivening the figure through the presence of loaded brushes in his hand.
Collection of Foster Goldstrom
From the placard: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art , The Breuer
Like Life Sculpture, Color, And The Body
Self-Portrait with Sculpture The MET Breuer (23)
John De Andrea American 1941 –
Self-Portrait with Sculpture, 1980
Polyvinyl, polychromed in oil
While recognizable as a modern iteration of the Pygmalion myth, this female sculpture is animated less by the sculptor’s apparent desire than by the illusionistic application of layers of paint, gradually suffusing her with life color. The internalized gaze of the artist/sculptor is undistracted beyond the nude presence of the female figure. In place of an erotic charge between the two figures, the Galatea-like model sits expectantly for the artist to complete the task, while De Andrea acknowledges the primacy of skin pigment in enlivening the figure through the presence of loaded brushes in his hand.
Collection of Foster Goldstrom
From the placard: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art , The Breuer
Like Life Sculpture, Color, And The Body