Research: Portrait Sculpture - Part 4, Project 1

The exercise asked for research into the techniques sculptors can use to comment on the status and achievements of their subjects, so I decided to begin this research into portrait sculpture by taking a walk from my own front door in London, in an area that owes its character to Sir Thomas Cubitt (1788-1855).

Sir Thomas Cubitt, Denbigh St. Pimlico

Born in 1788, in Buxton, near Norwich, he trained as a builder, becoming a master builder responsible for South Belgravia, as Pimlico was once called. He was also responsible, in 1847, for the east front of Buckingham Palace which lasted until redesigned by Aston Webb in 1913.  This statue was unveiled in 1995 by the Duke of Westminster.  It shows Cubitt with a set of plans in front of him and a measuring stick - both tools of the trade. Although he is not recognisable by his facial features, most people can guess that he has something to do with construction because of the props. (Interesting fact:  One of his great great grand daughters is Camila Parker-Bowles.)

Walking towards Tate Britain from Pimlico, the next portrait

"Jete" Enzo Plazotta, 46-57 Millbank, Westminster

sculpture I come across is of a dynamic ballet pose - the jete, by famous English Ballet dancer, David Wall.

(1946-2013). Wall became, at 21, the youngest principal dancer that the national ballet had ever had. He frequently partnered Dame Margot Fonteyn. The sculpture is by Enzo Plazzotta, an Italian-born British sculptor who has many bronzes dotted about London (including the charming "Young Dancer" opposite the Royal Opera House). I had never heard of David Hall when I first saw this sculpture, but I knew right away it was of a ballet dancer. So the second technique a sculptor can use to comment on the subject's status and achievements is to show her/him  performing a perfect example of her/his art.

Off to Trafalgar Square now to see one of the most famous portrait sculptures in London - Admiral Lord Nelson on top of his column, by Edward Hodges Baily). In this case, the sculpture is way off the ground and looked up to by everyone. So, if we want to recognise the figure, we must be able to recognise physical attributes or characteristics we always associate with him - in this case, his sleeve tucked inside his jacket, noting the loss of his right arm; and that famous hat. By placing the statue atop an enormous Corinthian column, everyone recognises that this man deserves enormous respect. The closer we get, the more we have to crane our necks to see him. Embellishment, in the form of four lions (by Landseer, an English artist specialising in wildlife) guarding the base of the statue and four relief panels on the sides of the base help in the aggrandisement of this iconic sculpture.

Admiral Lord Nelson, Trafalgar Square

On New Bond Street, the home of ultra-expensive shops, sits one of my favourite sculptures - that of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) on a bench in conversation with Sir Winston Churchill. Called "Allies", and unveiled in 1995 by the Bond Street Association to mark 50 years of peace, this statue is by Lawrence Holofcener. After their cooperative stand against Nazism, the two men helped found the United Nations. Churchill's mother was American and he and Churchill were distant cousins. What is interesting for me in this piece of sculpture is its informality. Churchill looks happy and relaxed in conversation with Roosevelt.  The body language of both men is warm and welcoming - Roosevelt has his arm along the back of the bench towards Churchill, who is leaning in towards his ally, with his left hand holding his signature Cuban cigar. Churchill is also recognisable by his bow tie, but Roosevelt is perhaps less obviously known to us without his wheel-chair (although he had taught himself to walk short distances using leg braces). In any case, the two are very life-like (and provide endless photo opportunities for tourists to be seated between them). In this case, I would say that posing the subject convincingly is the way the sculptor has achieved readily recognisable meaning; as well as showing their habits (Churchill's ubiquitous Cuban cigar); and dressing them in their usual recognisable clothes (Churchill's waistcoat and bow-tie and Roosevelt's double-breasted suit jacket.

"Allies" in New Bond Street.

Shackleton - RGS, London

The next two statues are to be found at the north end of Exhibition Road, at the Royal Geographical Society headquarters. If you want to take a taxi to see them, just ask for "hot and cold corner" as their location is called by London cabbies, presumably because of the opposing climates associated with each of them. They are Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton (left) and African explorer/missionary Sir David Livingstone (below right).

There is nothing frivolous about these statues. Both men look serious, resolved and deserving of their heroic status. Shackleton appears to be staring straight ahead, perhaps in the direction of the South Pole, while a more frail-looking Livingstone (below), with bible in hand, looks ahead as he perhaps surveys Victoria Falls. The location of these two statues, embedded in the walls of the National Geographical Society, and the clothes they wear plus the things they hold onto (like Livingstone's walking stick and his bible) help give us clues about their status and achievements and the geographical areas they mapped.

Livingstone

 



 

Albert Memorial from Kensington Gore

Gilded statue of seated Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort.

But perhaps the most striking technique a sculptor can use to comment on the status or achievement of the subject is to use the most expensive materials and surround the statue with a tall and ornate monument. A wonderful example of this technique is the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens (above left), just along the road from the statues of Shackleton and Livingstone.  (Scott Monument in Edinburgh's Princes Street is another good example and pre-dated this one.) Made from bronze and gilded, the memorial took ten years to complete and cost the equivalent of £10,000,000 in today's money. At 54m (176') tall, this statue can be seen from quite a distance, and if the sun is shining, it can be a dazzling sight. This man must have been loved indeed!