One of the reasons I love the Getty so much is their emphasis on sculpture. Don’t get me wrong, paintings and textiles and manuscripts and furniture are all fine. But something about 3-D art really appeals to me. Therefore, my unbridled enthusiasm for… statuary. Male or female. Bust or full figure. Clothed or nude (but mostly nude). I love them all. Hope you do too.
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Let’s start off with a bang, shall we? My favorite piece overall. I’m not 100% sure of the title or the subject. It’s probably David or Adam – or Mars or Jupiter – depending on whether you’re secular or religious. But I always think of this one simply as “Buns of Steel.”
The man is “The Juggler,” but to me he looks like “The Waiter.” The woman & child are Venus & Cupid. Who’d you think, Yoko & Julian?
The second guy is called “Pseudo-Seneca.” How to distinguish him from real Seneca is a complete mystery to me. No mystery about the first one, though. It’s titled “Vexed.’ I say it’s a self-portrait of the sculptor after too much coffee!
One of these guys is supposedly “Cicero.” The other one is a Democrat currently campaigning in Iowa. Which one is statuary and which one is doomed to drop out of the race by next week? You make the call!
I saved my favorite sculptor for last. Something about the flow of Rodin’s lines. The demure woman alone is Eve. No doubt she’s reflecting on her apple pie recipe. The two figures emerging from stone are Jesus and Mary Magdalene. If you’re interested, you can read more about the installation here.