Ruth Leon recommends…Antonio Canova’s “Venus” from clay to marble – Fred Z Brownstein

Antonio Canova’s “Venus” from clay to marble – Fred Z Brownstein

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Here’s my new favourite art video from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. It combines two of my passions – process and history. As regular readers know, I have a new favourite art video at least once a week. This one, though, will last me much longer than a week.

 Master sculptor Fred X. Brownstein recreates Antonio Canova’s sculpture “Venus” using Canova’s unique 200-year-old techniques over the course of 6 months. How does Brownstein go from a foot-high clay sketch to a near-identical marble copy of one of Antonio Canova’s most famous sculptures?

Watch this behind-the-scenes time lapse using Canova’s marble sculpting process to find out. Brownstein uses his hands and small, wooden tools to create a rough clay sketch model called a bozzetti. He then moves on to a full-scale modelli that is cast in plaster, creating a hollow mold. This mold, in turn, serves as the basis for a refined plaster model that’s copied into a marble version where Fred makes the final touches. Where Canova had a workshop with assistants, Fred did all of the sculpting himself. How fascinating to watch this process.

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