Dear Art Lover,
Last spring while still in Italy,
I house-hunted a lot. I asked all of my
Italian friends for information and visited several in order to see potential
homes for my fall return. In the
process, I got to visit some nearby cities in which I had spent little or no
time. Pescia was one such town. Pescia
lies in Tuscany, halfway between Pistoia and Lucca. It is about an hour and ten minutes by train
from Florence.
The lower level is used for changing exhibitions and we were fortunate enough to see “Passio XTI – la Fede rappresentata” There were thirty three works of art (2-d and a few 3-d), representing the passion of the Christ. I must say that I was very surprised to see this small town and museum have TWO xylography works (woodcuts) by Albrecht Dürer! There were many other lovely Christian works there, but I have so many images to share today of the sculpture …
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| Albrecht Dürer from 1519 |
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| Albrecht Dürer from 1503 |
Allora, there was so much
sculpture to see that, really, I was thrilled by this surprise. As we entered the top floor via the staircase,
I saw this portrait bust of a young boy… hung from a shelf attached to the
ceiling! What a greeting!I really enjoy the movement in the greyhound dogs. The work of Libero Andreotti feels very human to me and captures simple, but often profound, moments in our lives.
Bas relief sculpture is so difficult to do well. I have found and show my students that the lighting during one’s work is necessary for success. Relief sculpture is not just “puffy painting” (as I once told my workshop instructor Eugene Daub). It is compressed form. But even that will not work, if the lighting is not well done and specific in the creation and exhibition. Eugene knows this better than most: he carved coins and such, as well as many other sculptures.
However, I was charmed by bas relief when I saw the story-telling applications possible. I especially enjoy mixed relief levels, such as on the Gates of Paradise in Florence: Flatter, more coin-like levels (true bas [low] relief) and as the foreground advances, it becomes more high relief. Sometimes the figures in front are totally realized in the round! But, I digress . . . as I do. I hope you enjoy these images and can go see this collection in Pescia. There is so much more than I was able to show here.
For more information, including open hours, visit:
http://www.comune.pescia.pt.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/63
[There is an English section if you scroll down the page.]
I am not above taking a donation. Even five bucks is a help, if you enjoy what you read about and see in my images here on this blog. Thank you. [You may make a donation via the PayPal links on the side bar on the blog site: http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com ]
Peace,
Kelly
~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor,
painter, writer, teacher
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