I thought it would be of interest for folks to see how artwork is viewed from an artists perspective (mine in this case), of “Marcus Daly” by Augustus Saint-Gaudens on the campus of Montana Tech in Butte Montana. For more information on St. Gaudens - an American Master of sculpture - his work and life, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Saint-Gaudens. I had the chance to spend some time with this sculpture and glean some insight into the language used to convey the intended messages. Below are some images of the sculpture that I have modified in Photoshop emphasize some of the points that occurred to me while looking at this piece as they relate to visual balance.

Images exploring visual balance in a sculpture by Agustin Saint-Gaudens.
Images exploring visual balance in a sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

 Take a look at the three images of this sculpture and take note of the omissions of those on the right and left. The center image is exactly how St. Gaudens sculpted the Marcus Daly monument. Saint-Gaudens was very deliberate in his choice of composition - no extraneous elements were included. And of the elements that were included, they were arranged in a specific way. If any of the elements of the sculpture are deleted, it changes the feel of the piece significantly. In the left-hand image, I erased the hat for the sake of discussion. To me, this throws the visual weight of the sculpture heavily to the right and it just feels like something is missing on that left side - as if the figure should extend that arm to even things up. You?

Similarly, I erased the top of the coat that was draped over the figure’s arm on the right-hand image. In this case, by eliminating the form draped over the arm, it diminishes the overall mass of the sculpture to a large extent. The result, in my mind, is that St. Gaudens included this form on the right side to add greater force and presence to the sculpture. The individual depicted here is Marcus Daly - one of the great “Copper Kings” of Butte, MT and a very powerful individual in the world of politics and commerce. Compare the two images on the right, and perhaps you will agree with me - that the middle image has a greater feel of solidity, a more profound presence and more rooted in place than the image to the right. To me, the center image is more bullish… a greater force to be reconed with… like the man himself. More on the composition of “Marcus Daly” in a later post.