Porcelain Tortoise "Capsized" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This capsized tortoise was hand-built in porcelain by New York artist, Bethany Krull. Among the larger of her porcelain pieces it is built solid with over 50 pound of clay on a cust...
Ceramic, Porcelain, Mixed Media
Unavailable
H 10 in W 9 in D 5 in
Porcelain Rat Sculpture "Snitch" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This exquisite porcelain, hairless, rat sculpture is hand-built without the use of molds by New York artist, Bethany Krull. The super white porcelain is built solid on a system of a...
Porcelain
Unavailable
H 5.5 in W 6.5 in D 5.5 in
Porcelain and Earthenware "Bowl-back Beetle" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This hand built porcelain beetle with resilient wire and epoxy clay legs hauling a wheel-thrown earthenware bowl was created by New York artist, Bethany Krull. A thought provoking f...
Wire
Unavailable
H 11 in W 9 in D 7 in
Paper Mache and Porcelain "Elephant Topiary" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This beautiful soft green paper mache and porcelain elephant topiary sculpture was created by New York artist, Bethany Krull. The pot portion of the sculpture is wheel thrown in mul...
Porcelain, Handmade Paper
Unavailable
H 6 in W 6 in D 6 in
Round, soft-green, ceramic "Roly Poly" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This soft, green, ceramic sculptural depiction of a Roly Poly insect by New York artist Bethany Krull is both playful and sophisticated. The piece is hand-built, without the use of ...
Ceramic, Rubber, Paint
Unavailable
H 6 in W 6 in D 1 in
Wall Plate with Snails "Traversing Painted Flowers" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This piece was created with a real found snail shell and durable epoxy clay by New York artist, Bethany Krull to traverse the surface of the floral plate. The glistening wet snail f...
Clay, Porcelain, Epoxy Resin
Unavailable
H 15 in W 20 in D 6 in
porcelain horse sculpture in pink flowers "Womb" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This porcelain horse wall sculpture is hand-built without the use of molds by New York artist Bethany Krull and floats peacefully in a womb-like nest of pink silk flowers.
Porcelain, Mixed Media
Unavailable
H 9.5 in W 24 in D 7 in
Porcelain Dinosaurs, glass aquarium, "Dino Pet Adaptation" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
A pair of white porcelain dinosaurs hand built by New York artist, Bethany Krull are contained inside a glass aquarium. The dinosaurs, the vibrant green artificial plants and blue a...
Ceramic, Porcelain, Glass, Mixed Media
Unavailable
H 11 in W 26 in D 10 in
White Porcelain Pig Jumping a Hurdle "Underdog" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This sculpture depicts a white porcelain pig embodying sheer determination. Hand sculpted in a super-white porcelain by New York artist Bethany Krull the gorgeous porcelain surface ...
Porcelain, Fabric, Wood, Acrylic
Unavailable
H 30 in W 14 in D 14 in
Porcelain Monkey, Topiary Tree "Surrogate/Monkey Topiary" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This piece by New York artist, Bethany Krull depicts a white porcelain monkey clinging to a white porcelain potted topiary tree with a bulbous top made of beautifully textured archiv...
Porcelain, Handmade Paper
Unavailable
H 18 in W 10 in D 10 in
White Porcelain Baby Birds, Topiary Tree "Birdie Topiary" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This sculpture depicts two newborn baby birds perch atop a potted topiary hand built using super white porcelain and archival white paper mache by New York Artist Bethany Krull. The...
Porcelain, Handmade Paper
Unavailable
H 51 in W 60 in D 28 in
Red Rocking Horse, Porcelain Skull "Resurrection of Gemini" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This piece is a beautiful and large red wooden rocking horse sculpture with a mounted white porcelain skull created by New York artist, Bethany Krull. The skull was hand-formed in a...
Porcelain, Wood, Paint
Unavailable
H 5.5 in W 9.5 in D 3 in
Snails On a Weathered Board “Traversing Weathered Wood” by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This wall piece was created by New York artist, Bethany Krull using found drift would and found snail shells. The glistening snail forms are hand sculpted directly onto the wood usi...
Clay, Epoxy Resin, Driftwood, Paint, Mixed Media
Unavailable
H 42 in W 20 in D 18.5 in
Paper Mache chameleon on a yellow chair "Tree-Dweller" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This playful piece created by New York artist, Bethany Krull, depicts a vibrantly colored paper-mache chameleon with glass marble eyes clinging to the back of an equally vibrant yell...
Wood, Acrylic, Handmade Paper
Unavailable
H 57.5 in W 15 in D 15 in
Bronze Insect on a Spinning Mount "Revolving Mount Specimen 2" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This stunning nickel-plated bronze beetle sculpture spins smoothly on its powder-coated steel base with a high quality ball-bearing. The insect is originally sculpted in clay, molde...
Bronze, Steel
Unavailable
H 59 in W 15 in D 15 in
Bronze Insect on a Spinning Mount, "Revolving Mount Specimen 1" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This stunning nickel-plated bronze beetle sculpture spins smoothly on its powder-coated steel base with a high quality ball-bearing. The insect is originally sculpted in clay, molde...
Bronze, Steel
Unavailable
H 12 in W 12 in D 12 in
Ceramic Frog Sculpture in a glass aquarium, "Last of Her Kind" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
A lone ceramic frog perches atop a dirt mound covered in blooming artificial flowers. She is a beautiful captive inside her glass aquarium and she is the last of her kind...A creatu...
Ceramic, Glass, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Sold
H 4 in W 2.5 in D 3.5 in
Porcelain Wall Hanging “Hedgehog Baby” by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This darling white porcelain wall mounted hedgehog baby was created by the New York artist Bethany Krull. The sculpture was cast in porcelain in multiple parts and meticulously assem...
Ceramic, Porcelain
Sold
H 75 in W 45 in D 32 in
"Gerb-i-whirl" Kinetic Sculpture, in Cast Bronze and Steel, by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Corning, NY
Krull's solo exhibitions include "Where the Wild Things Are" at The Castellani Art Museum in Niagara, NY and "Dominance and Affection" at The Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo,...
Bronze, Steel
Sold
H 10 in W 19 in D 6 in
Metallic cocoon, bone wall piece "The only constant is change' by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
Three delicate and meticulously crafted cocoons hang from the oval opening in a found bone. Sculpted by hand out of a durable epoxy resin clay and painted with fine metallic paint b...
Mixed Media
Sold
H 7.75 in Dm 9.38 in
"Five Hungry Birds" Porcelain Birds in Concrete Nest by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Corning, NY
"Five Hungry Birds" by Bethany Krull shows five baby birds, mouths agape and reaching up from a concrete base. Krull's presents her porcelain creatures in absurd and tense scenarios....
Concrete
Sold
H 8 in W 8 in D 1 in
Wall Plate with Snail “Traversing Yellow Flowers” by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This piece was created with a real found snail shell and durable epoxy clay New York artist, Bethany Krull who sculpts the beautiful snail to traverse the surface of the yellow flora...
Clay, Porcelain, Found Objects
Sold
H 4 in W 6 in D 3 in
Porcelain goldfish with silk orchid fins “Prize” by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This sculpture, a beautiful white porcelain fish with pink fins made of deconstructed artificial orchids, was created by the New York artist, Bethany Krull. This playful and sophisti...
Porcelain, Mixed Media
Sold
H 6 in W 6 in D 3 in
Snail study on a rock form "Traversing Weathered Brick” by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
This piece was created with a real found snail shell and durable epoxy clay by New York artist, Bethany Krull. The artist sculpted the undulating snail directly onto a weathered bric...
Clay, Epoxy Resin, Found Objects
Sold
H 8 in W 13 in D 6 in
Porcelain hermit crab on a toy rocket “Starter Pet Adaptation” by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
A beautiful and playful porcelain hermit crab rests on top of a toy rocket-ship in this unique sculpture created by New York, artist Bethany Krull. This piece is from the artist's "D...
Ceramic, Porcelain, Glaze, ABS
Sold
H 72 in W 13 in D 13 in
Black Tower of White Porcelain Mice "Space Saving Mouse Tower" by Bethany Krull
By Bethany Krull
Located in Buffalo, NY
A black tower of stacked cages holds nine white porcelain mice which have been carefully slip-cast and assembled by the artist Bethany Krull. The beautiful porcelain surface is left...
Wire
Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.
Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.
The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.
Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.
Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.
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.