Miniature Nude Sculptures

One of a kind Goddess sculpture by Noche Crist (1909-2004). Noche Crist was an American artist born in Romania. Catalogue of a postumous retrospecti...

Felipe Castañeda Mujer Agachada (Crouching Woman), 1972 Bronze, wood base 12 x 9.5 x 11.5 inches Edition III/VI Most recent owners acquired this limited-edition bronze sculpture fro...

Anton Nelson (i.e. Antoine Joseph van den Kerckhoven) (1849 Brussels - after 1910 ibid.), Bust of a young woman, c. 1890. Patinated bronze on cast base, 30 cm (total height) x 20 cm ...

Canadian artist Richard Tosczak is known for his beautiful figurative sculptures. This bronze statuette of a nude female leaning as if against a wall, hands behind her back was first...

Henri Honoré Plé (1853 Paris - 1922 Paris), The Victorious David, around1890. Red-brown and brown patinated bronze with terrain plinth mounted on a round base. 42 cm (total height) x...

"The Broken Mirror" also named "The Unrecognized Truth" by Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-1902) Bronze with a very nuanced brown patina cast by SUSSE France circa 1910 height 34 cm A similar model reproduced in "Jules Dalou, le sculpteur de la République", Exhibition held at the Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, 2013, page 391, n°316. Biography : Aimé-Jules Dalou, said Jules Dalou(1838-1902) was a French sculptor, born from Protestants glovers craftsmen who raised in secularism and love of the Republic. Jules Dalou was very young talented for modeling and drawing, which earned him the attention of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, who made him entered in 1852 in the Little School, the future National School of Decorative Arts in Paris. In 1854, he was admitted to the School of Fine Arts in Paris, where he studied painting in the workshop of Abel de Pujol and sculpture in the workshop of Francisque Duret...

Modernist nude bronze sculpture by Houston, TX artist David Adickes. The sculpture depicts an abstract armless female nude torse that stands on a wooden base. The piece is signed by the artist at the back of the sculpture's left leg. Artist Biography: Born (1927) and raised in Huntsville, TX, David Adickes is an artist whose art and heart are closely aligned with Paris, France. After studying art at the Atelier F. Leger in the late 40s, Adickes burst onto the art scene in Houston and elsewhere in the early 50s and has been a prominent member of Houston’s art community ever since. While his most visible works are his giant sculptures, from the Virtuoso in downtown Houston...

Volo Standing Male Nude Sculpture Figure Bronze Boy - In Stock Volo is a standing male nude figure in bronze, a boy reaching, in brown patina. This sculpture is suitable for indoors ...

Alia Mihi Mens Est Bronze Sculpture Contemporary Nude Boy Marble Stone This sculpture need to be ordered. We will cast a brand new one for you. The edition is 4 pieces. The next scu...

Wax lost bronze. 3/8. Founder CHAPON. Michel SERRAZ was born on August 2, 1925 in Paris he knows the price and importance of work and is constantly in a harmonious relationship wi...

Ian Edwards - The Hour of Darkness - Original Signed Bronze Sculpure Dimensions: 40 x 31 x 31 cm Edition of 8 Edwards’ practice expresses the power and determination of human endea...

Ira Bronze Sculpture Contemporary Nude Boy Marble Stone Sitting Wim van der Kant (1949, Kampen) is a selftaught artist. Next to his busy profession a...

Abstracted sculpture of a nude woman by Francis Xavier "Frank" Bracken (American, 20th Century). Signed, dated and numbered "Francis X. Bracken 1981 2/7...

RYSZARD PIOTROWSKI (born in 1952) Sculptor. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. His works include intimate, small forms in marble, bronze and silver. He specializes...

Antique bronze sculpture of male nude reading a letter or proclamation. Marble base, 19th century. Unsigned.

The bronze sculpture of a woman by Charles Rumsey is undated, but was created at a point in his career where he began to transition from realism to more modern, looser depictions of ...

Organic expressionist lost-wax bronze sculpture channels Giacometti-inspired textures and natural mold irregularities in an earthbound human form. This original edition piece—Replica...

La Gamba Bronze Sculpture Torso Standing Female Figure Girl Woman KOBE, pseudonym of Jacques Saelens, was a Belgian artist (Kortrijk, Belgium 19...

Rudolf Kaesbach (1873 Gladbach - 1955 Berlin), Forest idyll, around 1915. Bronze, gold and golden brown patina, with cast plinth, mounted on a marble base (5 cm high), total height 36 cm, dimensions of the bronze: 31 cm (height) x 17 cm (length) x 12 cm (width). Weight 4,6 kg, signed on the plinth "R.[udolf] KAESBACH". - a few rubbed areas, overall in excellent condition for its age - Soulmate - The bronze sculpture depicts a young woman in an intimate exchange with a deer that accompanies her. The animal pauses to turn toward her, while the nude beauty slows her pace to look into the deer's eyes and tenderly caress it with her hand. The woman and the deer are in inner harmony. Even though her lips remain motionless, she speaks the language of the animal with which she is deeply connected. The golden patina, which contrasts with the more naturalistic coloring of the deer, gives the young woman the appearance of a saint, even if she cannot be identified as such. At the same time, she evokes memories of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, or a nymph. But she lacks the ferocity. In her innocent naivety, she is more like a vestal virgin, who is not at home in the solitude of the forest. And yet, the young beauty, moving unclothed in the heart of nature, looks like a priestess with her hair tied up and a carefully carried bowl on her way to a sacred grove. In order to open up the above-mentioned associations, Kaesbach deliberately designed the female figure in such a way that she cannot be identified as a specific person. He has created an allegory of natural femininity, characteristic of Art Nouveau, in which the deer is far more than a companion animal. It displays the same gracefulness as the young woman, and the inner resemblance between the two makes the deer appear as her other self. In animal terms, it embodies her inner being, which also gives the deer an allegorical character. About the artist Rudolf Kaesbach studied sculpture at the Hanau Academy and worked in a bronze foundry in Paris in 1900. In order to work as an independent artist, he opened a workshop in Düsseldorf, where he cast bronzes from models he designed. In 1902 he made his debut at the German National Art Exhibition in Düsseldorf. The following year Kaesbach went to the academy in Brussels. There he was inspired by contemporary Belgian sculpture, especially the work of Constantin Meunier. He moved to Berlin, where he opened a studio in the villa district of Grunewald and devoted himself to life-size marble sculptures and the design of bronzes. From 1911, he regularly presented his works at the major art exhibitions in Berlin, as well as in Düsseldorf and Malmö. Between 1936 and 1939, he also created models for the Rosenthal porcelain factory. From 1939 to 1944, Kaesbach was represented at the major German art exhibitions in Munich. GERMAN VERSION Rudolf Kaesbach (1873 Gladbach - 1955 Berlin), Waldidyll, um 1915. Gold und goldbraun patinierte Bronze mit gegossener Plinthe, auf einem Marmorsockel montiert (5 cm Höhe), Gesamthöhe 36 cm, Maße der Bronze: 31 cm (Höhe) x 17 cm (Länge) x 12 cm (Breite). Gewicht 4,6 kg, auf der Plinthe mit „R.[udolf] KAESBACH“ signiert. - vereinzele beriebene Stellen, insgesamt in einem altersgemäß ausgezeichneten Zustand - Seelenverwandtschaft - Die Bronzeplastik veranschaulicht eine junge Frau im innigen Austausch mit einem sie begleitenden Reh. Das Tier hält inne, um sich zu ihr hochzuwenden, während die nackte Schönheit ihren Schritt verlangsamt, um dem Reh ebenfalls in die Augen zu schauen und es zärtlich mit der Hand zu liebkosen. Die Frau und das Reh sind in einem inneren Gleichklang. Auch wenn ihre Lippen unbewegt bleiben, spricht sie die Sprache des Tieres, mit dem sie auf eine tief empfundene Weise verbunden ist. Die im Kontrast zur naturalistischeren Einfärbung des Rehs aufstrahlende goldfarbene Patina lässt die junge Frau wie eine Heilige erscheinen, auch wenn sich nicht als Heilige identifizierbar ist. Zugleich ruft sie Erinnerungen an die Jagdgöttin Diana oder eine Nymphe hervor. Dafür fehlt ihr allerdings die Wildheit. In ihrer unschuldigen Naivität gemahnt sie vielmehr an eine Vestalin, die freilich nicht in der Waldeinsamkeit zu Hause ist. Und doch wirkt die sich unbekleidet im Herzen der Natur bewegende junge Schönheit wie eine Priesterin, die sich mit hochgebundenem Haar und der vorsichtig getragenen Schale und dem Wege zu einem Heiligen Hain befindet. Um die gennannten Assoziationen zu eröffnen, hat Kaesbach die Frauenfigur bewusst so gestaltet, dass sie nicht als konkrete Person identifizierbar ist. Damit hat er eine für den Jugendstil charakteristische Allegorie natürlicher Weiblichkeit geschaffen, bei der das Reh weit mehr als ein Begleittier ist. Es weist dieselbe grazile Anmut wie die junge Frau auf und der innere Gleichklag der beiden lässt das Reh als ihr anderen Ich erscheinen. Es verkörpert – ins Animalische übertragen - ihr inneres Wesen, wodurch auch dem Reh ein allegorischer Charakter zukommt. zum Künstler Rudolf Kaesbach studierte an der Akademie Hanau Bildhauerei und war im Jahr 1900 in einer Pariser Bronzegießerei tätig. Um sich als eigenständiger Künstler betätigen zu können, eröffnete er in Düsseldorf eine Werkstatt, in der er Bronzen nach selbstentworfenen Modellen goss. 1902 debütierte er auf der Deutschen Nationalen Kunstaustellung in Düsseldorf. Im Folgejahr ging Kaesbach an die Akademie nach Brüssel. Dort wurde er von der zeitgenössischen belgischen Bildhauerei, insbesondere vom Werk Constantin Meuniers, inspiriert. Zurückgekehrt zog er nach Berlin, wo er im Villenviertel Grunewald ein Atelier eröffnete und sich neben dem Entwurf für Bronzen der lebensgroßen Marmorbildhauerei widmete. Ab 1911 präsentierte er seine Werke regelmäßig auf den Großen Berliner Kunstausstellungen, aber auch in Düsseldorf und Malmö. Zwischen 1936 und 1939 fertigte er zudem Modelle für die Porzellan-Manufaktur Rosenthal an. Von 1939 bis 1944 war...

Lucifer Bronze Sculpture Contemporary Classic Mythology Male Figure Wings Angel The sculptures of Margot Homan (1956, Oss, the Netherlands) show a perfect command of the old craft o...

Dancer “Takeoff” II is a bronze sculpture by contemporary artist Yann Guillon, dimensions are 25 × 15 × 8 cm (9.8 × 5.9 × 3.1 in). Height of the sculpture with the metal base: 40 cm ...

Bruno Zach (1891 Zhitomir - 1945 Vienna), Gladiator ready for battle, c. 1930. Blackish patinated bronze with silver-plated helmet, shield rim and shield pommel mounted on a fluted m...

Jits Bakker (1937–2014) was a Dutch visual artist deeply inspired by classical mythology and Renaissance ideals. Though best known internationally as a sculptor, his artistic talents...

Bronze miniature statue by Tom Merryfield marked No 67/95 Tom left the stage and took up drawing and sculpting as a full-time occupation and has never looked back. He has sculpted m...

Nude woman figure knelling on the pillow. Signed illegibly with initials, dated '64 edition 1/3. Bronze on marble base.

Sculpture art déco en céramique d’après un modèle du sculpteur Maurice Guiraud-Rivière (1881-1947), réalisée dans l'usine de Boulogne d'André Fau et Marcel Guillard Céramique craquel...

Eugenie Gershoy (January 1, 1901 – May 8, 1986) was an American sculptor and watercolorist. Eugenie Gershoy was born in Krivoy Rog, Russia (Krivoi Rog, Ukraine) and emigrated to New York City in the United States as a child in 1903. Considered somewhat of a child prodigy, Gershoy was copying Old Master drawings at the age of 5. Her interest and talent in art was encouraged from a very young age. Aided by scholarships, she studied at the Art Students League under Alexander Stirling Calder, Leo Lentelli, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and Boardman Robinson. Around this time, she created a group of portrait figurines of her fellow artists, including Arnold Blanch, Lucile Blanch, Raphael Soyer, William Zorach, Concetta Scaravaglione, and Emil Ganso, which were exhibited as a group at the Whitney Museum of American Art. At age 17, she was awarded the Saint-Gaudens Medal for fine draughtsmanship. Early in her career she became an active member of the Woodstock art colony. In Woodstock she experimented by sculpting in the profusion of indigenous materials that she found. Working with fieldstone, oak and chestnut, Gershoy created works based on classic formulae. As she became more interested in the dynamism of everyday life, she found that these materials and her idiom were too restrictive. By the time Gershoy came to Woodstock in 1921 her own individual artistic style was already evident in her sculptures. Eugenie Gershoy worked in stone, bronze, terracotta, plaster and papier-mache. Gershoy’s sculptures were mainly figurative in nature and many of her artist peers such as Carl Walters, Raphael and Moses Soyer, William Zorach and Lucille Blanch, became her subjects. Eugenie Gershoy’s works on paper should not be overlooked. She was the winner of the Gaudens Medal for Fine Draughtsmanship at the tender age of 17. Gershoy married Jewish Romanian-born artist Harry Gottlieb. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the pair kept a studio in Woodstock, New York. There, Gershoy was influenced by sculptor John Flanagan, who lived and worked nearby. From 1936 to 1939, Gershoy worked for the WPA Federal Art Project. She collaborated with Max Spivak on murals for the children's recreation room of the Queens Borough Public Library in Astoria, New York. She developed a mixture of wheat paste, plaster, and egg tempera, which she used in polychrome papier-mâché sculptures; she was the only New York sculptor to work in polychrome at this time. She also designed cement and mosaic sculptures of animals and figures to be placed in New York City playgrounds. Alongside others employed by the FAP, she participated in a sit-down strike in Washington, DC, to advocate for better pay and improved working conditions for the projects' artists. Gershoy's first solo exhibition was held at the Robinson Gallery in New York in 1940. She moved to San Francisco in 1942, and began teaching ceramics at the California School of Fine Arts in 1946. In 1950, she studied at the artists' colony at Yaddo. Gershoy traveled extensively throughout her life. She visited England and France in the early 1930s, and worked in Paris in 1951. She traveled to Mexico and Guatemala in the late 1940s, and also toured Africa, India, and the Orient in 1955. In 1977, Gershoy dedicated a sculpture to Audrey McMahon, who was actively involved in the creation of the Federal Art Project and served as its regional director in New York, in recognition of the work McMahon provided struggling artists in the 1930s. Gershoy's work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Her papers are held at Syracuse University Grant Arnold introduced her to lithography in 1930 and Gershoy depicted many scenes of Woodstock artists and their daily activities through this medium. From 1942 to 1966 Gershoy lived and painted in San Francisco where she taught at the San Francisco Art Institute. She traveled extensively, filling sketchbooks with scenes of Mexico, France, Spain, Africa and India. During her later years Eugenie Gershoy returned to New York City and concentrated on numerous well received exhibitions. Her last exhibition in at Sid Deutsch Gallery included many of the sculptures that were later exhibited in the Fletcher Gallery. John Russell, former chief critic of fine arts for the New York Times, writes about the 1986 Sid Deutsch exhibition: “As Eugenie Gershoy won the Saint-Gaudens Medal for fine draftsmanship as long ago as 1914 and since 1967 has had 15 papier-mache portrait figures suspended from the ceiling of the lobby of the Hotel Chelsea, she must be ranked as a veteran of the New York scene. Her present exhibition includes not only the high-spirited papier-mache sculptures for which she is best known but a group of small portraits of artists, mostly dating from the 30’s, that is strongly evocative.” Eugenie Gershoy is an artist to take note of for several reasons. She was a woman who received great awards and recognition during a time when most female artists were struggling to hold their own against their male counterparts. As a young girl she won a scholarship to the Arts Student League where she met Hannah Small...

Ian Edwards - Born of Fire - Original Signed Bronze Sculpure Dimensions: 30 x 32 x 32 cm Edition of 12 Edwards’ practice expresses the power and determination of human endeavour. He draws inspiration from natural forces, with his powerful masculine figures often bearing the surface texture of time enduring landscapes. Edwards uses this external inspiration to explore very internal themes of fortitude and self-discovery. Edwards’ sensitive hand as a sculptor incorporates classical ideas about the sculpting process. In both Self Made Man and Creation of Self...

Erich Schmidt-Kestner (1877 Berlin - 1941 Nordhausen), The Feeding, around 1915. Gold and black patinated bronze with cast brown patinated plinth mounted on a lightly veined black-gr...

Venus Bronze Sculpture Woman Contemporary Female Nude Sitting Lady The statues of Erwin Meijer are subtle with a recognizable, personal handwriting. They ...

Nando Kallweit's Giselle II captures a minimalist, abstract female figure seated in a casual, cross-legged pose. The bronze sculpture exhibits a sleek, matte finish that enhances i...

My Jupiter Series is part of a new series of pieces started while quarantining in this pandemic time. They are hand cast solid bronze relief sculptures mounted on black granite bases...

Patrick BRUN was born in Paris in 1941. After obtaining his Engineering degree, he began his professional life as a teacher in mathematics and physics. After this period, he started ...

One of a kind ceramic sculpture by Latin American sculptor Raúl Valdivieso (Chilean, 1931-1993). Valdivieso is known for his reinterpretation of classic organic forms and human figures. Sculpture retains the original wood and black laminate base with metal cage. Ceramic is in good original condition. Laminate is in poor condition with a few chips. Raúl Valdiveso was born September 9, 1931 in Santiago, Chile. In 1952 he began his studies at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Chile. There he took to sculpture and studied under professors like Marta Colvin...

Alfredo Pina’s Extreme Effort (Le Suprême Effort) is a striking bronze sculpture that embodies the raw struggle of human perseverance. This expressive work portrays a muscular male f...

This muscular male torso probably comes from a larger relief, which would have decorated the front part of a sarcophagus. It likely represents the figure of a satyr, standing, with t...

Giulia a cavallo, or Julia on a horse, is a striking bronze sculpture featuring a stylized, elongated nude female figure seated atop a horse, embodying an essence of surreal simplici...

Cubist Nude Patinated Bronze Sculpture. Dominique Polles' bronze sculptures of female nude edition 2/4 patinated bronze signed and dated 1999. Born in Paris in 1945, young Pollès of...

Patrick BRUN was born in Paris in 1941. After obtaining his Engineering degree, he began his professional life as a teacher in mathematics and physics. After this period, he started ...

Initialed and dated: "DVT 61". From the estate of the artist. In fine condition.

Antigone Bronze Sculpture Classical Contemporary Mythology The sculptures of Margot Homan (1956, Oss, the Netherlands) show a perfect command of the old craft of modelling and sculp...

"Female torso" is a monumental bronze sculpture of a woman. The bronze is covered with green patina. It is created by the artist Maestro Willem Botha. About the artwork Edition : 2 of 14 in total Certificate of authenticity: issued by Snow Pearl art gallery NEW MOVEMENT & STYLE: Contemporary Maestro Willem Botha The masterpiece is suitable for representative offices, gardens, parks, homes etc. “The impressions of this artwork on the viewer is so mighty, mesmerizing, grand, that it paralyzes the imagination. All his sculptures bring positive energy, emotion, represented by the vast creative power of the author's talent.” Maestro Willem Botha was born in South Africa in 1962. Today he lives in Bulgaria and works in a creative workshop in Sofia. Willem started his career as Sculptor at Shows and Exhibitions in the South African Defense Force in 1981. He was mentored by Artists like Andre Prinsloo and Jan van Der Merwe. In 1986, he moved to Namibia where he was a Sculptor for the Windhoek State Museum. During the time in Windhoek, he had several one man and group expeditions in various galleries in Windhoek and Swakopmund. In 1988 he was commissioned to remake the Atlas Sculpture on the House Hohenzollern Building in Swakopmund. In 1990, he moved to Town where he sculpted full time. Willem did some freelance work for Jean Doyle, helping with the bronze casting of her work. During his time in Cape Town, he exhibited in several galleries in and around Cape Town. In 1991, he moved to Graskop, where he continued full time sculpting and he opened his own foundry. He moved back to Pretoria in 1992, to continue sculpting and established Art Cast Foundry. In the same year he was commissioned to do several decorative works for the Palace of Sun City, that includes, all the doors bronze handles. Sculptors that he did castings for are to name but a few, the late Bobby Lawrence, Niko van Rensberg, Maureen Quinn, Anton Smit, Andre Prinsloo, Barry Jackson...

Apollo by Pierre-Marie POISSON (1876-1953) Sculpture with a dark old gold patina signed on the base "P. Poisson" Cast by Bisceglia (with the foundry stamp) France circa 1927 heig...

Le Berceau (The Cradle) by Baltasar LOBO (1910-1993) A bronze group with a brownish green patina Signed at the lower backside " Lobo " Cast by " Susse Fondeur Paris " (with the foun...

Marble-based bronze statuette depicting Cupid, holding an arrow in his hand, walking caressing a lion's mane, lowered in the act of affectionately licking his little foot. The subjec...

Patrick BRUN was born in Paris in 1941. After obtaining his Engineering degree, he began his professional life as a teacher in mathematics and physics. After this period, he started ...

Nu Recomposé (Recomposed Nude) Assemblage in Extruded Polymer 40 x 40 cm Description: Nu Recomposé by Grégoire Mathias is a striking cubist sculpture that reinterprets the human for...

A Fine French Patinated Bronze Figure of Young Maiden sitting beside a Peacock surmounted atop a rouge marble plinth by Auguste Moreau. Perfect size for a desk or dresser, or mantle ornament...

Numbered and limited to 8 copies Artwork signed Authenticity: Sold with certificate of Authenticity Invoice from the gallery Sculpture: bronze, metal, bronze patina Display: The s...

Allen Jones (1937) Chest (1968) Sculpture. Silkscreen print on fiberglass published by Xartcollection 14 3/5 × 10 1/5 × 4 7/10 in 37 × 26 × 12 cm An iconic example of Jones's early w...

Azimuth Bronze Sculpture Classical Contemporary Mythology The sculptures of Margot Homan (1956, Oss, the Netherlands) show a perfect command of the old craft of modelling and sculp...

White marble sculpture - The Kiss. ​​19th century. 15 x 20 x h 20 cm including base, 12 x 17 x h 18 cm excluding base. Entirely in white marble, some small breaks and repairs. - ...

German sculptor Nando Kallweit produces figurative bronze sculptures and reliefs with aquiline and a graceful modern appeal. Kallweit is inspired by seemingly disparate cultures; the...

After studying fine arts, a need for contact with solid material was needed. Ybah took a classic artistic path from an academic education from the Louvre reproductions, learning at t...

Nude kneeling by Baltasar LOBO (1910-1993) A bronze sculpture with an old gilded patina Signed on the lower side " Lobo " Cast by " Susse Fondeur Paris " (with the foundry mark) Art...

Art Deco patinated bronze titled "The Discus Thrower" by Claire Jean Roberte Colinet (1880-1950) Raised on a circular green marble base and the attached to a square lacquered metal b...

Sydney Kumalo. Features a bronze stylized female figural form sculpture fixed to a marble plinth and wood base. Bears signature on base. Measures 9 1/2" x 4 1/4". There is no edition number on the piece. Sydney Kumalo (1935 - 1988) was born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, on 13 April 1935. His was one of the families who had to move out of the "white" city to the South Western Townships, or Soweto. Raised in Diepkloof and educated at Madibane High School, he took with him from old Sophiatown the curious and diverse heritage of its heyday. Art classes in the Catholic school, "Sof' town" blues and jazz, the vibrant street culture and growing defiance of its population of various races who were gradually forced out into separate race-group areas. So it was that these various aspects of his early life created for Kumalo a cultural mix of a Zulu family related to the traditional royal house; city schooling, nascent township music and lingo; growing urbanised political defiance and the deep-rooted Zulu pride and respect for the legends and ancient stories of a tribal people. This mix of old and new cultures was reinforced when he began his studies at the Polly Street Art Centre in 1953 where he became a member of Cecil Skotnes group of serious artists who were encouraged to acquire professional skills. Skotnes introduced a basic training programme with modelling as a component, which marked the introduction of sculpting (in brick-clay) at Polly Street. Kumalo was Skotnes’ assistant at Polly Street from 1957 to 1964, and having recognised his great talent as a sculptor, Skotnes encouraged him to become a professional artist. After Kumalo’s very successful assistance with a commission to decorate the St Peter Claver church at Seeisoville near Kroonstad, with painting designs, sculpture and relief panels in 1957, Skotnes arranged for Kumalo to continue his art training by working in Edoardo Villa ’s studio from 1958 to 1960. Working with Villa, he received professional guidance and began to familiarize himself with the technical aspects of sculpting and bronze casting. In 1960 he became an instructor at the Polly Street Art Centre. Kumalo started exhibiting his work with some of the leading commercial Johannesburg galleries in 1958, and had his first solo exhibition with the Egon Guenther Gallery in 1962. He was a leader of the generation who managed to leave behind the forms of African curios, reject the European-held paternalism which encouraged notions of "naive" and "tribal" African art, and yet still hold fast to the core of the old legends and spiritual values of his people. He introduced these subjects into his bronze sculptures and pastel drawings, evolving his own expressive, contemporary African "style". Together with Skotnes, Villa, Cecily Sash and Giuseppe Cattaneo, Kumalo became part of the Amadlozi group in 1963. This was a group of artists promoted by the African art collector and gallery director Egon Guenther, and characterised by their exploration of an African idiom in their art. Elza Miles writes that Cecil Skotnes’ friendship with Egon Guenther had a seminal influence on the aspirant artists of Polly Street: “Guenther broadened their experience by introducing them to German Expressionism as well as the sculptural traditions of West and Central Africa. He familiarised them with the work of Ernst Barlach, Käthe Kollwitz, Gustav Seitz, Willi Baumeister and Rudolf Sharf.” It is therefore not surprising that some of Kumalo’s sculptures show an affinity with Barlach’s powerful expressionist works. Guenther organised for the Amadlozi group to hold exhibitions around Italy, in Rome, Venice, Milan and Florence, in both 1963 and 1964. Kumalo’s career took off in the mid 1960s, with his regular participation in exhibitions in Johannesburg, London, New York and Europe. He also represented South Africa at the Venice Biennale in 1966, and in 1967 participated in the São Paulo Biennale. EJ De Jager (1992) describes Kumalo’s sculpture as retaining much of the “canon and formal aesthetic qualities of classical African sculpture. His work contains the same monumentality and simplicity of form.” His main medium for modelling was terra cotta, which was then cast in bronze, always paying careful attention to the finish of both the model as well as the final cast. He began casting the pieces he modelled in clay or plaster into bronze at the Renzo Vignali Artistic Foundry in Pretoria North. He worked throughout his life with its owners, the Gamberini family, and enjoyed learning the technical aspects of the casting process, refining his surfaces according to what he learned would produce the best results in metal. De Jager further writes that Kumalo’s distinctive texturing of the bronze or terra cotta is reminiscent of traditional carving techniques of various African cultures. “In many respects Kumalo thus innovated a genuine contemporary or modern indigenous South African sculpture”. Kumalo came to admire the works of the Cubists, and of British sculptors Henry Moore and Lynn Chadwick. He became noted for adapting shapes from them into his own figures. The success of his use of the then current monumental simplicity and purely aesthetic abstractions of natural forms has been emulated by many South African sculptors since the 1970s. He was in many ways the doyen of South African Black art. As such he was an important influence especially on younger African sculptors, by whom he is greatly revered. Through his teaching at Polly Street and at the Jubilee Centre, as well as through his personal example of integrity, dedication and ability, he inspired and guided students who in their own right became outstanding artists, for example, Ezrom Legae, Leonard Matsoso and Louis Maqhubela From 1969 onward, he allied himself with Linda Givon, founder of The Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, where he exhibited regularly until his death in December 1988. Working with Givon also perpetuated his associations with his many friends of strong principles. Skotnes, Villa, Legae and later such peers from the Polly Street era as Leonard Matsoso, Durant Sihlali and David Koloane have all exhibited at The Goodman Gallery. Kumalo, Legae, and later Fikile (Magadlela) and Dumile (Feni) were among the leading exponents of a new Afrocentric art...

Andries Velting is a new artist at Gallerie Bonnard. His moving sculptures of dancers are a special addition tot our existing collection. Velting say...

This engaging bronze sculpture on black wooden base, well represents a human bust, but for its expressive force, the bust turns into an abstract shape of it. The artist who created t...

Woman with Book is an elegant figurative bronze sculpture by Nando Kallweit. Modelled on modern youthful postures but with a nod to the importance of ...