Curriculum Materials: Art in America
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Image 8 Hiram Powers Questions: |
Think Questions Answer Key
1. Hiram Powers carved a PORTRAIT BUST of President Washington. Why might an artist make a bust instead of a full-body sculpture? Why might someone want a smaller sculpture? This bust is about lifesize. Where would you place this sculpture if it were yours?
2. How old do you think George Washington is in this PORTRAIT? Why did Hiram Powers represent the president as an aging man? (To make the bust similar to a type of ancient Roman portrait sculpture that showed men in their advanced years; to emphasize his many years of service to the nation; because age was valued in men.) What qualities do you think Powers is trying to emphasize? (Experience, wisdom, power, respect.)
3. What does CLASSICAL mean? What does "neo" mean? What does NEOCLASSICAL mean? (New-classical. It refers to a revival of the art and ideas of ancient Greece and Rome.) What aspects of this sculpture evoke ancient Greece and/or Rome? (The toga is an ancient form of clothing; the bust format and NATURALISM evoke ancient Roman sculpture; marble was extensively used in classical sculpture.) What is new about it? (The subject, George Washington, is contemporary.) Did George Washington really wear a toga? What did he wear? Why did Powers show George Washington wearing a toga? (To evoke ancient Roman sculpture; to allude to the values of the ancient Roman republic; because this was a popular device for NEOCLASSICAL PORTRAITS of the time.)
4. This sculpture was made in the mid-1800s. Did Hiram Powers see George Washington in person? (No.) How do you think he knew what Washington looked like? (From other artworks.) If you were going to make a PORTRAIT of a 20th-century U.S. president, what visual sources would you consult? (If you could not get the president to sit for a portrait, photographs are readily available.)
5. How is a chunk of marble made into a sculpture? (It is chiseled and carved.) Before carving this BUST in marble, Powers made a clay model. How is making a sculpture out of marble different from making one out of clay? (When working in clay, you mold the material with your hands to build something out of it. Because you generally have to add clay as you sculpt, this process is called ADDITIVE SCULPTURE. When working with stone, you have to remove material; this process is called SUBTRACTIVE SCULPTURE.)
6. Compare and contrast Powers's
PORTRAIT
BUST and
Sully's painting of George
Washington. What
MEDIUM does each artist
use? How much of the president's body does each include? Are
the representations of Washington's face alike or different?
How? Which portrait appears more
NATURALISTIC? How
does each use
SYMBOLISM? What
CLASSICAL references
does each include?
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