Interior of an Amateur Statuary's Workshop
Print
1827 (made)
1827 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This satirical print derives some of its humour from contrasting different ways of looking and different things being looked at.
In the background, an older man is studious contemplating plaster casts of famous classical statues of the gods Apollo and Hercules, and the goddess Venus. A small child tries to draw the attention of his mother to a sculpture of a female nude with a prominent bottom, while the woman looks horrified and tries to shield her gaze with her fan. Meanwhile two dandified men peer at the woman with the child, as openly as if she were one of the statues on display. The two men carving a seated female nude stare intently at what they are doing.
The gap between the polite behaviour of the man studying the plaster casts, and the misbehaviour of the young men ogling the young woman, is paralleled by the gap between the idealised beauty represented by those same plaster casts and the grotesque busts lurking in the shadows on a high shelf.
In the background, an older man is studious contemplating plaster casts of famous classical statues of the gods Apollo and Hercules, and the goddess Venus. A small child tries to draw the attention of his mother to a sculpture of a female nude with a prominent bottom, while the woman looks horrified and tries to shield her gaze with her fan. Meanwhile two dandified men peer at the woman with the child, as openly as if she were one of the statues on display. The two men carving a seated female nude stare intently at what they are doing.
The gap between the polite behaviour of the man studying the plaster casts, and the misbehaviour of the young men ogling the young woman, is paralleled by the gap between the idealised beauty represented by those same plaster casts and the grotesque busts lurking in the shadows on a high shelf.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Interior of an Amateur Statuary's Workshop (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Print |
| Brief description | 'Interior of an Amateur Statuary's Workshop', by A.E, published by G. Humphrey, May 1827 |
| Physical description | A coloured print showing a group of people in a gallery, filled with sculptures. A sculptor working in the middle, two men laughing on the left, a woman with a child looks on, shocked. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | AE Esq Del J. Jones Sculpt.
London Publ. May 26 1827 by G. Humphrey 27. St James's St.
Interior of an Amateur Statuary's Work-Shop |
| Gallery label |
|
| Credit line | Purchased through the Julie and Robert Breckman Print Fund |
| Production | Date published: 26 May 1827 |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This satirical print derives some of its humour from contrasting different ways of looking and different things being looked at. In the background, an older man is studious contemplating plaster casts of famous classical statues of the gods Apollo and Hercules, and the goddess Venus. A small child tries to draw the attention of his mother to a sculpture of a female nude with a prominent bottom, while the woman looks horrified and tries to shield her gaze with her fan. Meanwhile two dandified men peer at the woman with the child, as openly as if she were one of the statues on display. The two men carving a seated female nude stare intently at what they are doing. The gap between the polite behaviour of the man studying the plaster casts, and the misbehaviour of the young men ogling the young woman, is paralleled by the gap between the idealised beauty represented by those same plaster casts and the grotesque busts lurking in the shadows on a high shelf. |
| Bibliographic reference | Not in M. Dorothy George 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, vol X, 1820-1827', London, 1952. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.3733-2004 |
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| Record created | October 20, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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