Changing Conceptions of Western Sculpture from the Greeks to Antony Gormley

Throughout the history of Western sculpture there have been changes in the conception of sculpture as primarily appealing to a single position for the viewer or to every angle in the surrounding space. There have also been changes in whether sculptural materials should be carved directly or (particularly since the invention of ‘pointing machines’) whether they should be primarily shaped by designers’ preconceptions. 

Following on from Prof Read's previous (but not essential) lecture on the Parthenon, this talk discusses changes wrought in crucial works by the Greeks, Agostino di Duccio, Michelangelo, Bernini, Canova, Rodin, Duchamp, Brancusi, and Richard Serra. It concludes on two works in AGWA by the British contemporary sculptor Antony Gormley that prompt us to interrogate his claim that ‘‘either my work can be seen as really bad figurative sculpture, or as a provocation to a state of reflection.’

Richard Read is Emeritus Professor and Senior Honorary Research…