https://wwnorton.com/common/mplay/6.11/p=/thameshudson/gatewaystoart2/vid/MoMA/&f=MoMA_th_judd_untitled_mp&ft=mp4&cc=1 Verrocchio and Judd Compare Equestrian Monument of Bartolomeo Coll
Media Processes Video: 2.4 Additive Sculpture
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Sculpture
13.16. Andrea Del Verrocchio (completed by Alessandro Leopardi). Equestrian Monument of Bartolommeo Colleoni. c. 1481-96. Bronze, height approx. 13' (4m) without the base. Campo SS. Giovanni e Paolo (Zanipolo), Venice. Commissioned by the Venetian Republic with funds left by Bartolommeo Colleoni.
Verrocchio is a sculptor from the Italian Renaissance. The condottiere (=leader of mercenaries) Bartolommeo Colleoni (1475) left a considerable sum of money to the Venetian Republic for a bronze equestrian monument of himself to be set up in Piazza San Marco, center of Venetian life. Verrocchio abandons the static concept of earlier equestrian monuments,. Notice the three-quarter twist of the body—this gives the work more energy as if the figure is commanding the surrounding space. The horse is turning in the opposite direction of the rider as his left foreleg steps freely. The rider’s dilated eyes are staring, jaw clenched. The effect is dramatic and commanding.
(This passage is edited from p. 330 of History of Renaissance Art by Frederic Hartt)
Image Source: Equestrian Monument of Bartolommeo Colleoni, by Andrea Del Verrocchio, from Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Painted Bronze/Ale Cans, 1960, oil on bronze, Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Title: Painted Bronze/Ale Cans
Medium: Oil on bronze
Year: 1960
Jasper John’s Ale Cans use a bronze cast method. You should have seen from the video how bronze is cast. We also know from our readings and our videos that cast bronze is a historic, European process.
We still see many bronze sculptures today. Where might we see these? Perhaps memorials or at a large institution like a university, a large park? Think of Verrocchio’s equestrian sculpture. Cast bonze is very often used to honor individuals and historic events. It’s an expensive, historic process that asks us to think in terms of tradition.
What, then, was Jasper Johns doing here? He was using bronze to cast beer cans—a very insignificant mass produced consumable related to alcohol! His act was a direct challenge to history and tradition. Notice the date; this was 1960. Johns is was an American artist. In this work, he was challenging the European tradition of art by casting his favorite brand of beer.
Image Source: Painted Bronze/Ale Cans, by Jasper Johns, from Museum Ludwig, Cologne. Fair use
Donald Judd
15 untitled works in concrete, 1980-1984
Do these look like boring boxes or something left behind by a construction project? Think again!
The fifteen individual units that comprise each work have the same measurements of 2.5 x 2.5 x 5 meters, and are made from concrete slabs that are each 25 centimeters thick. But their arrangements take various configurations. If you stand by this work, you feel like you are interacting with the sculpture, and this was exactly what Judd was after. Judd was not interested in art that referenced or mimicked subjects in the world, like Verrocchio’s equestrian sculpture or even Johns's beer cans. He was interested in pure forms and shapes. Also notice that he is using concrete, an industrial material that does not carry the weight of history like bronze.
MoMA VIDEO: Donald Judd, Untitled (Stack)
