Felipe Castaneda On Sale

The work of celebrated Mexican sculptor Felipe Castañeda represents a harmonious balance of pre-Columbian and modern artistic impulses. His figurative and still-life sculptures have a quiet, contemplative appeal. Working in mediums like marble, onyx and bronze, Castaneda’s female figures explore themes of womanhood, motherhood and fertility.

Castañeda was born in La Paloma, Mexico, in 1933. The area’s abundance of pre-Columbian sites and artifacts no doubt inspired his later work. Interested in art from a young age, Castañeda moved to Mexico City to get closer to the country's artistic scene. He started his studies at La Esmeralda National School of Painting Sculpture and Drawing in 1958, where he discovered a passion for sculpture. Castañeda left school in 1963 and worked at the National Museum of Anthropology and as an assistant to Francisco Zúñiga. 

Zúñiga was an Expressionist artist known for his paintings and sculptures featuring indigenous women, which undoubtedly informed Castaneda's style. Castañeda developed a sensual aesthetic highlighting the female form and harking back to the clean lines, classical proportions and thoughtful expressions of Greco-Roman sculpture. He held his first solo exhibition in 1970 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Over the course of his long career, Castañeda has exhibited throughout Mexico, the United States and Europe. He has received commissions for public sculptures in his home country as well as in California. His work is held in the permanent collections at the Museum of Art History in Ciudad Juárez and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Castañeda currently lives in Morelia, Mexico.

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Figurative sculptures mix reality and imagination, with the most common muse being the human body. Animals are also inspirations for these sculptures, along with forms found in nature.

While figurative sculpture dates back over 35,000 years, the term came into popularity in the 20th century to distinguish it from abstract art. It was aligned with the Expressionist movement in that many of its artists portrayed reality but in a nonnaturalistic and emotional way. In the 1940s, Alberto Giacometti — a Swiss-born artist who was interested in African art, Cubism and Surrealism — created now-iconic representational sculptures of the human figure, and after World War II, figurative sculpture as a movement continued to flourish in Europe.

Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon were some of the leading figurative artists during this period. Artists like Jeff Koons and Maurizio Cattelan propelled the evolution of figurative sculpture into the 21st century.

Figurative sculptures can be whimsical, uncanny and beautiful. Their materials range from stone and wood to metal and delicate ceramics. Even in smaller sizes, the sculptures make bold statements. A bronze sculpture by Salvador Dalí enhances a room; a statuesque bull by Jacques Owczarek depicts strength with its broad chest while its thin legs speak of fragility. Figurative sculptures allow viewers to see what is possible when life is reimagined.

Browse 1stDibs for an extensive collection of figurative sculptures and find the next addition to your collection.