'Franz Xaver Messerschidt' is the first exhibition in the USA devoted to this major late 18th-century Austro-Bavarian sculptor. It will focus on the artist's so-called "character heads". Working in a neo-classical vein, Messerschmidt made his mark at first in Vienna, where he met success and had several imperial commissions. He presented the individual features of his models in a way "true to nature", in keeping with their age and without idealising them. Around 1770, there was a rupture in Messerschmidt's life. The artist was thought to have psychological problems, lost his position at the university, and returned to Wiesensteig, his native Bavarian town. Messerschmidt devoted himself to the creation of his "character heads", the body of work for which he would become famous. To produce these works, the artist would look into the mirror, pinching his body and making faces. He then rendered, with great precision, his distorted face. Messerschmidt is known to have produced 49 of these astonishing works before he died in 1783. Messerschmidt can be seen in relation to artists such as William Blake and Francisco Goya for his explorations of the dark side of the human soul. His "character heads", in particular, are masterly works of sculpture, whose expressive intensity anticipates later developments in art.
 Trade In this Item for up to £2.85
Trade in Franz Xaver Messerschmidt for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.85, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Card, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more
|
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
About the Author
Maria Potzl-Malikova, professor at the University of Bratislava (Slovakia) has written extensively on the Art of Central Europe. She has previously written a monograph on Messerschmidt (1982). Antonia Bostrom is Senior Curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts at J. Paul Getty Museum. Guilhem Scherf is chief curator of sculpture at the Musee du Louvre. Marie-Claude Lambotte is a professor at the Universite Paris XIII.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By phil-g
Amazon Verified Purchase
As a connoisseur of quality art books, I rate this 5 star for all round quality, replete with excellent high quality photographic images on most of its 200+ pages, many full page size. This book is probably the best example of this artists work, concentrating mainly on his character heads.
I am well pleased. This is a very good quality, highly cherished addition, to my art book collection.
If you find this artists work interesting, (there are some good sites online for research), then you will like this book.
I am well pleased. This is a very good quality, highly cherished addition, to my art book collection.
If you find this artists work interesting, (there are some good sites online for research), then you will like this book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Freud in bronze (and sometimes lead or alabaster...)
20 Nov 2010
By Reich Claude
- Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase
By now, after the wonderful Neue Galerie show that this catalogue illustrates (a show that will later travel to the Louvre which, some years ago acquired one of his rare character heads), every self-respecting artlover must have heard of the great Austrian sculptor Franz-Xaver Messerschmidt.
This book shows, with wonderful illustrations (the heads are shown from every possible different angles) and an insightful text, the breadth of the artist, an expressionist master well before the Expressionists, who was able to show in sculpture, through his so-called "character heads", made of lead, bronze or marble, all the emotions that make us human beings so frail, listless, illogical, unpredictable, in a nutshell, human, so human...
One of the best artbooks published this year.
This book shows, with wonderful illustrations (the heads are shown from every possible different angles) and an insightful text, the breadth of the artist, an expressionist master well before the Expressionists, who was able to show in sculpture, through his so-called "character heads", made of lead, bronze or marble, all the emotions that make us human beings so frail, listless, illogical, unpredictable, in a nutshell, human, so human...
One of the best artbooks published this year.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see the review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
