Tag / sculpture

by Leonie Andrews

Drawing the exhibition -Robert Hannaford 

On a visit to  Adelaide a week ago we saw the retrospective of the work of Robert Hannaford, a South Australian portraitist, at the Art Gallery of South Australia. It was fascinating to see what 50 years of work looked like, particularly the many self portraits Hannaford has made over that time. I also enjoyed seeing that he made the type of quick sketches in coffee shops and bars that many of us make, which are worthwhile in themselves.  

What did surprise me were two sculptures that were included in the show. His understanding of the figure in space I found to be even more compelling than his painted portraits. As I was with other people opportunities for sketching were limited.  I  sketched two versions of his bronze sculpture ‘Handstand’.

Rather wonky, but I couldn’t resist the dramatic shadow being cast by the left leg over the torso of the sculpture

You can find more of his work at his website. 

by Leonie Andrews

Sunday in Sichuan Province

What could be more appropriate activity for a Sunday than to take a drive in the country. Our group drove out of Chengdu at about 9 in the morning, while most of the local population was still asleep. Our destination was Leshan, the 12th largest city in the province (3 million people), which is home to a famous sculpture of the Buddha. The sculpture sits above the confluence of three rivers and was built with the purpose of seeking the Buddha’s influence to stop the capsizing of small boats (well this was in 713 AD). The best views are from the water so we took to a boat and cruised downstream to see the statue.
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Given that the sculpture is 71 metres tall the view, even from the water is quite foreshortened.
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After a great lunch of local noodles we drove to Huang Long Shi village (Yellow Dragon River), a popular tourist destination for Chengdu residents. The largely reconstructed main street runs either side of a small stream. Shops selling food and totally pointless souvenirs abound. We sat down in one of the tea houses for a spot of people watching. To one side we could also see some of the carved stone frogs that decorated the stream bed.
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Soon it was time to head back to town and in that time honoured tradition we joined the rest of the locals in a massive traffic jam. Ah there is nothing like a drive in the country!

PS apologies for the picture quality, I had to do these late in the evening.

by Leonie Andrews

Drawn while waiting

Two e-drawings from the past few weeks.
The first drawn waiting for our friend to arrive at Canberra airport. Part of the drawing includes the sculpture ‘Feather’ by New Zealand artist Virginia King.
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King says she was inspired by a lyrebird’s feather.
Some what less inspirational was my wait at the physiotherapist’s. The outlook was out to the rather dour police station and the commercial buildings nearby. My eye was captured by the graphic sign for one of the building’s other occupants.
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by Leonie Andrews

Coming back down to earth

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Another speaker at the Designing a Capital forum last week was the artist Geoff Farquar-Still, whose sculpture of a paper aeroplane has come to rest not far from the coffee shop we frequent.

Geoff commented that, when this work was first placed near the High Court building, children played on it, assuming it was a piece of playground equipment. I’m not sure why the piece was moved (I do recall a sculpture competition being temporarily sited in that area), but I’m  sure that in its current location, adjacent to a children’s playground, it’s still getting similar attention. Interestingly, the surveyor working nearby had to be convinced that it was a sculpture and not just another piece of playground equipment.

by Leonie Andrews

Virgin of the Offering

When I opened my sketchbook this morning I found another blind drawing that I had made almost a month ago, while I was visiting Adelaide.

This drawing also took place while I was having coffee, at that time in the courtyard of the Art Gallery of South Australia. The drawing is of the Virgin of the Offering by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, 1921.

The Virgin of the Offering, Emile Bourdelle, 1921, bronze

The Virgin of the Offering, Emile Bourdelle, 1921, bronze

I was also interested to see that an almost identical sculpture by Bourdelle, The Virgin of Alsace, is located at the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh. In the Edinburgh sculpture the Virgin is looking out at the viewer, the sculpture in Adelaide has her with her gaze lowered. Quite clearly clever Bourdelle has made two versions of the same work with only minimal reworking.