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Learning Paths
“Where should I go?” “What is a good school?” “Who is a good teacher?” I often hear this from friends and visitors ranging in ages 19 to 75. In this issue, we are offering a place to begin by reviewing a few schools where one can receive good, solid training and a basis upon which to build a career as a professional sculptor.
Another popular question: “How can I get the best education so that I can be the next Michelangelo, Rodin, or Augustus Saint-Gaudens?” Every artist has a story that begins with family, education, and ambition mixed into the unique era in which he or she lives.
Michelangelo’s early story is well known: he lived during the Renaissance, was raised near the rhythm of the stone cutters, apprenticed at thirteen in the workshop of Ghirlandaio, and hand-picked to study and work under the roof of Lorenzo de’ Medici, one of the greatest art patrons of all time.
Rodin’s story? Although born into a time and place of explosive artistic activity as well, he had a less fortunate beginning. From a family of modest means, he showed interest at an early age in drawing and enrolled at the École Impériale de Dessin, a government school for craft and design. At seventeen, although he won two prizes for drawing and modeling, he was rejected three times when trying to gain admittance to the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts. Paris was blossoming with ornamental sculpture and statues, and Rodin began work on public projects in the decorative arts, learning techniques, mastering materials and tools, and augmenting his unquenchable thirst for knowledge in the galleries of the Louvre while working on his own projects at night. In 1863, at age 23, in his first studio, he began a portrait bust with the intention of submitting it to the Paris Salon - an annual exhibition through which the participants entered the prestigious circle of the successful artists. The portrait was of a neighborhood handyman who had a broken nose: The Man with the Broken Nose. It was rejected twice, in 1864 and 1865. Although Rodin was basically self-taught and his early artistic years were marked by one failure after another, today his name is synonymous with the modern era of sculpture.
Born in 1848, Augustus Saint-Gaudens followed a more traditional line of education and success: good family, highly respected education in both the States and abroad, and collectors that sponsored his work. At the age of 13, Augustus left the New York school system to learn a trade and was apprenticed to a cameo cutter for the next six years while taking art classes at night at the Cooper Union School and the National Academy of Design. At 19, he left for Paris and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied with enthusiasm for three years. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out, he moved to Rome where, immersed in the exuberant social life in the arts, the young artist established a clientele that boosted his career. In 1876, he received his first major commission - a monument to Civil War hero Admiral David Glasgow Farragut - securing his future success.
To the layperson’s eyes, the life of an artist appears to be filled with glamour, passion, and success. In truth, however, the path is forged in dedication and humility, enlightened by an intellectual zest and virtuosity, and a unique style that belongs to each artist, in my point of view.
Giancarlo Biagi
Sculpture Review Magazine
56 Ludlow Street, 5th Floor • New York, NY 10002 • Tel (212) - 529 - 1763 • Fax (212) - 260 - 1732
E - mail GP@SculptureReview.com
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