5 Must-Have Features in a Contemporary Bronze Sculpture

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(Above photo - Italian Bronze Nude Female Harp Player Classical Art )

Bronze is a popular material for making sculptures, especially those intended to withstand the ravages of outdoor weather. A typical bronze sculpture is a 3D piece of art produced by casting molten bronze in a mould. The artist then leaves the bronze to solidify to form the sculpture.

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By definition, bronze is a metal composed of 88 per cent copper and 12 per cent tin. The two metals are heated together before being allowed to cool. Bronzes from the past might have had a different copper-to-tin ratio or even been made from brass, a copper-zinc alloy.

Why Is Bronze a Popular Sculpture Material?

(Above photo - Anatomical Study Flayed Male Bronze Statue after Houdon L corche Casting )

Sculptors prefer bronze because it is a hard, malleable metal that doesn't break easily. It is easy to cast and produces greater detail and consistency when it cools down. During solidification, bronze expands slightly, making it possible to capture every detail in the mould.

Besides, it is possible to reuse the mould, depending on how it's made. Therefore, it's possible to reproduce bronze sculptures.

Finally, artists love bronze because of its rich colouring. When exposed to the elements, it develops a protective patina over time. That's why older bronze pieces look intense.

Process of Making Bronze Sculpture

(Above photo - Bronze Stags Signed Moigniez Pair Stag Moose Elk Statues )

The primary method of making bronze sculptures is casting in a mould. Bronze moulds could be produced in a foundry before being used to launch a sculpture. The sculptures are primarily created using lost-wax casting or investment casting. It uses wax moulds, which ensure the transfer of fine details to the statue.

Early forms of lost-wax casting involved a model in wax and creating a mould around it. The wax then melted and poured into the mould to create a hunk of bronze. Given the bronze sets, it can be challenging to use this method to make large pieces.

Therefore, the best way to make more giant bronze sculptures is using the hollow lost-wax casting method. It may involve a clay model coated in wax and put in a mould. Thus, the original clay model gets lost in the process. A sculptor may also use a method that preserves the original clay model. Whichever method one picks, it is possible to make a sculpture in pieces or whole.

Large bronze sculptures require the artist to make separate parts before bringing them together. It may also involve creating more miniature figurines and slowly scaling them up until they end up with a life-size bronze sculpture.

Painting and Patinating Bronze Sculpture

(Above photo - Art Deco Bronze Snaker Charmer Statue by Colinet )

Once a sculpture is ready, it must be finished. A sculptor must have the surface chased to make it smooth. Any imperfections, including air bubbles and filled up. After that, the sculptor patinates or applies varnish to the bronze. Alternatively, the sculptor could use a mixture of acid and wax for a rich hue.

Patination is essential because it helps the sculptor choose the bronze's colour. Applying patina to specific elements or details of the sculpture helps emphasize fine details. Alternatively, a bronze sculpture should get silvered or gilded. It all depends on what the sculptor wishes to achieve.

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At the Venice Biennale, American contemporary artist Simone Leigh was selected to represent the United States and display her commissioned artwork in the United States Pavilion. The Venice Biennale, or La Biennale di Venezia, is an international cultural festival and perhaps the most prestigious art exhibition in the world. Monumental and rendered in bronze, Leigh's works at the Biennale exude a timeless quality and were a sensational success, garnering the American a Biennale Golden Lion ' the highest honor available at the exhibition. Leigh's oeuvre is undeniably a cultural force, but it also underscores the power of bronze in artistic creation, a material that has been used by artists for nearly years.

Satellite, in Sovereignty by Simone Leigh. Completed . At the Venice Biennale, United States Pavillion.

The term 'Bronze Age' may conjure up memories of sitting in a history class and learning about the emergence of human civilization. After societies began utilizing bronze as the material of choice, the ensuing era represented a large leap in technological advancement. Humans were no longer reliant on stone tools for agriculture and urban development, and the longevity of bronze tools and objects meant that less labor was needed to maintain architectural triumphs, weaponry and cultural artifacts.

Not every metal is given the title of an entire age in human history, but bronze holds the first title of its kind. Bronze has served as the backbone of human innovation for over five millennia, and continues to play a major role in contemporary art production. Join us as we journey through the many different ways humans have used this highly important metal to create timeless sculpted works of art.

How are bronze statues and sculptures made?

As artisans and metalworkers began to explore the possibilities offered by bronze, various methods were developed in order to cast molten metal into refined works of sculpture. Here are some of the most successful bronze art methods:

Sand Casting Technique

Sand casting is a simplified method for casting bronze. The sculptor creates a mold or pattern in compacted fine sand, into which they would pour molten bronze through a series of gates to funnel it into the necessary mold. As the metal cools, it will revert from its extremely hot liquid state back to a solid. Once cooled, the object can be removed from the mold.

While sand casting is a common and widely used technique, it does not allow for the utmost in precision or scale. Further, the molds are not reusable, which means that a new mold must be created every time in order to sand cast a new artwork.

Lost Wax Technique

One method for making bronze sculptures is known as the lost wax casting process, sometimes called cire perdue. This sculpting technique was common in the ancient world, used almost exclusively in Greece by the Late Archaic period (c. 500-480 BCE). Ancient Rome and China also used lost wax casting for the production of bronze objects.

Solid Casting

With solid lost wax casting, casts are made from models of the final sculpture ' typically comprised of wax. The sculptor then creates a mold of the wax model, surrounding it with clay or other materials and melting the wax down to create negative space into which molten metal ' in this case, bronze ' can be poured. Once the metal cools and solidifies, the mold can be broken away for the new bronze object to be cleaned and polished. Though this method is the most simple and direct, it tends to result in small statuary due to the limitations of the materials used for the mold.

Hollow Casting

In response to these size limitations, the Ancient Greeks also pioneered the hollow lost wax method which allowed artists and bronze-makers to create larger sculptures. These statues often had to be cast piecemeal ' a leg, a head, a torso. Instead of a wax replica where the wax melts, in the indirect hollow cast method, the model was typically made of clay and covered in wax before an outer layer of clay encircled the inner layer. When the wax was heated and removed, it opened up a matrix where the bronze alloy could be cast around the inner clay model. This meant that bronze sculptors could reuse models, making the recasting and reproduction of a given sculpture possible and relatively simple. This method, also called cire perdue, remains the most popular method among modern sculptors.

History of Bronze Sculptures

Ancient Bronzes

Dancing girl from Mohenjodaro ' the oldest known bronze sculpture. Circa BCE. National Museum of New Delhi. The emergence of bronze and other metalworking began during the aptly named Bronze Age, which spans from around BCE to BCE. As human civilization began to expand and grow, stone tools were replaced with far hardier and longer-lasting metals. While this certainly encouraged the continued development of urban societies, which were seeing the rise of written languages and increasing populations, it also provided a new material with which to create art objects and different types of sculptures.

Now in the collection of the National Museum of New Delhi in India, the oldest known bronze sculpture is known as the Dancing girl of Mohenjodaro. Standing nearly 5 inches tall and striking a casual and confident pose, the girl wears twenty-five bangles on her left arm, four bangles on her right and a necklace. British archaeologist John Marshall uncovered the original sculpture in , later commenting on the girl's seemingly modern air: 'When I first saw them I found it difficult to believe that they were prehistoric.'

Ancient Greek bronze statue of Eros, known in Greek Mythology as the god of love, sleeping. Circa 3rd-2nd century BCE. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Ancient Greek bronze casters discovered that bronze was a far more preferable material for sculptures and statues than other metals like copper. By the Hellenistic Period (323 BCE- 31 AD), Greek artists had mastered the art form, producing many of today's most well-known Greek sculptures, including Laocoön and His Sons, which inspired generations of artists that followed. Prolific numbers of bronze statues and sculptures were created by the Greeks, though few survive due to the value of the metal; many were melted down by later societies and reused for their precious bronze. Thankfully, ancient Roman sculptures, particularly marble copies, provide extensive records of the Grecian bronze casting traditions.

Ancient Roman bronze statue of an aristocratic boy. Circa 27 BCE'14 CE. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Ancient civilizations in Rome, China and India also appreciated the sturdy metal as an art medium. Ancient Roman craftsmen pioneered the concept of portrait busts, and these early portraits of Roman emperors and other politicians continue to shape the way modern societies depict their statesmen.

Renaissance & Baroque Bronze Sculpture

While European cities continued to operate bronze foundries during the Middle Ages for casting weaponry and other necessities, the Italian Renaissance ushered in a new age of bronze sculpture. Increasing adoration of Classical antiquity led to a reinvigorated interest in sculpture and classical proportions. Particularly in Florence, called the 'New Athens' by ambitious humanists, the Medici family's patronage allowed artistic production to flourish, and artists from Donatello to Michelangelo created masterpieces in bronze.

Bronze of David after Gian Lorenzo Bernini. 17th century. M.S. Rau, New Orleans.

Bronze of Pluto Abducting Proserpine after François Girardon. Circa . M.S. Rau, New Orleans.

The transition to the Baroque period brought bronze sculpture to even further heights. Moving from a humanistic naturalism, the Baroque period embraced dramatic grandeur and deep emotion. Artists of the period, including Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francois Girardon, created impassioned and gripping compositions ' subjects with emotive expressions, writhing bodies and theatrical posing. Though the material would once again fall out of favor following the end of the Baroque era, the Industrial Revolution would bring a bronze resurgence once more.

Modern Directions of Bronze Sculpture

Girardon's Equestrian Portrait of Louis XIV. Circa . M.S. Rau, New Orleans.

As the 19th century ushered in a new era of technology and innovation, bronze sculpture was taken in new and modern directions. The early 19th century saw a remarkable rise in the popularity of the bronze statue for public sculpture, as it had become customary to commemorate political and military figures through monuments. Residing in parks and civic buildings, or even lining boulevards, these sculptural works benefited from the inherent strength and durability of the metal, which offers it a greater degree of protection from the elements.

Le Baiser by Auguste Rodin. Created . M.S. Rau, New Orleans. Dancer Fastening the String of Her Tights by Edgar Degas. Conceived . M.S. Rau, New Orleans.

Some famous sculptors from the 19th-century, like Auguste Rodin, continued to rely on classical proportions and the foundations laid during earlier periods. His sculptures strayed, however, from the traditional biblical or classical subjects that formed the cornerstone of Renaissance and Baroque sculpture. One of his most iconic bronzes, called Le Baiser ('The Kiss'), was originally designed to be included in Rodin's The Gates of Hell'a monumental bronze sculptural group work depicting figures from Dante's Inferno. Rodin was ultimately taken with the overwhelming sensuality of his creation and deemed it too special to put on the Gates of Hell. The result is one of the most iconic portrayals of rapturous love and uninhibited intimacy ever created.

Other artists, like Edgar Degas, found ways to bring the subjects they already loved to paint and draw into three dimensions. Throughout his career, Degas became obsessed with capturing the dancer in motion, both on stage and in the dressing room; he painted dancing compositions quite often, but also found bronze an excellent medium for capturing the graceful movement and forms of ballerinas. Tête de cariatide by Amedeo Modigliani. Conceived . M.S. Rau, New Orleans.

Amedeo Modigliani, a 20th-century great beloved for his painting, created monumental bronze sculptures with his quintessential exaggerated yet elegant elongation of his subject's faces. His interest in African and other non-Western art is well-documented, and this bronze is reminiscent of a tribal mask or ancient deity, both due to its exaggerated features and the totemic appearance achieved by the work's texture, meditative presence and sheer size. Yet the work also alludes to the artist's Italian heritage and training. A caryatid is a staple of classical architecture, an ornate column typically found on the façade of a temple that takes the form of a female figure, with the most famous examples being on the Acropolis of Athens. The present large sculpture exudes the same totemic, memorable quality, taking the legacy of ancient Greek and Roman bronze sculptors and injecting Modigliani's signature style.

Moving further into the 20th century, postmodernism continued its march, impacting everything from photography, painting and filmmaking to fine art and sculpture itself. The introduction of abstraction to the medium is particularly important, as the abstract art pieces from this time represented a break from the nearly unbroken history of Classical influence on bronze sculpture. Artists like Constantin Brâncuși, Umberto Boccione and Agustin Cárdenas experimented with subject, form and even color by way of new patinas for the metal.

Couple by Agustin Cárdenas. Circa . M.S. Rau, New Orleans. Sleeping Muse by Constantin Brâncuși. Completed . The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Interested in learning more? Whether you're interested in bronze sculptures from the East to the West, we've got it all. Explore our wide range of bronze sculptures from the Baroque period through the present, or read our article on collecting fine art to discover how you can start your own collection of important works including exquisite bronzes. If you're interested in other mediums, our selection of fine art sculptures includes creations made of marble, terracotta, wood and more.

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