Going through the entire series sure brought back some memories. There are three or four Botero pieces in that series. When I was hauling architects and owners reps around central Italy in the late '80's to mid '90's Pietrasanta was always a "must see" due to the aggregation of sculptors which is always there. I used to get a kick out of taking those folks down to the actual workshops after listening to them exclaim about how difficult it must be for a sculptor to "work the stone". The scalpellini who actually execute the work do so with air hammers, grinders and sanders. They aren't much different from the fellows who executed Michelangelo's work and they can knock off a "David" in about two weeks. They also ridicule Michelangelo and especially the "David" because of poor composition.
I learned not to mention that to the architects. After all, what could the dumb and dirty riffraff who actually perform the work have to say about those with the genius to create it.
I love those statues in Amsterdam; a lot of them were placed in the dead of night by anonymous (or at least the last time I saw them they were anonymous) donors. A lot of them are both whimsical and meaningful, as that one is.
And you know what, Rick? If those guys thought David was a "poor composition", then your architect friends are right to ridicule them. That's like making fun of the Burghers of Calais because their hands are too big.
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Going through the entire series sure brought back some memories. There are three or four Botero pieces in that series. When I was hauling architects and owners reps around central Italy in the late '80's to mid '90's Pietrasanta was always a "must see" due to the aggregation of sculptors which is always there. I used to get a kick out of taking those folks down to the actual workshops after listening to them exclaim about how difficult it must be for a sculptor to "work the stone". The scalpellini who actually execute the work do so with air hammers, grinders and sanders. They aren't much different from the fellows who executed Michelangelo's work and they can knock off a "David" in about two weeks. They also ridicule Michelangelo and especially the "David" because of poor composition.
I learned not to mention that to the architects. After all, what could the dumb and dirty riffraff who actually perform the work have to say about those with the genius to create it.
I love those statues in Amsterdam; a lot of them were placed in the dead of night by anonymous (or at least the last time I saw them they were anonymous) donors. A lot of them are both whimsical and meaningful, as that one is.
And you know what, Rick? If those guys thought David was a "poor composition", then your architect friends are right to ridicule them. That's like making fun of the Burghers of Calais because their hands are too big.
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