Sculpture, GIA-MAI

Looking to find a use for that extra clay, stone, plaster, or metal that you have lying around? Consider sculpture, in which artists employ these materials and others to create three-dimensional art. Perhaps you’ll join the ranks of noted sculptors such as Michelangelo, Auguste Rodin, and Donatello.
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Sculpture Encyclopedia Articles By Title

Giacometti, Alberto
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor and painter, best known for his attenuated sculptures of solitary figures.......
Giambologna
Giambologna was the preeminent Mannerist sculptor in Italy during the last quarter of the 16th century. First trained......
Gibbons, Grinling
Grinling Gibbons was a British wood-carver known for his decorative woodwork and for much stone ornamentation at......
Gibson, John
John Gibson was a British Neoclassical sculptor who tried to revive the ancient Greek practice of tinting marble......
gigaku mask
gigaku mask, stylized wooden mask worn by participants in gigaku, a type of Japanese dance drama. Gigaku masks......
Gill, Eric
Eric Gill was a British sculptor, engraver, typographic designer, and writer, especially known for his elegantly......
Girardon, François
François Girardon was the most representative sculptor employed on the great sculptural project of decorating Versailles......
gisant
gisant, in sepulchral sculpture, a recumbent effigy representing the person dying or in death. The typical gisant......
Gislebertus
Gislebertus was a French sculptor who made major contributions to the Cathedral of Saint-Lazare in Autun and to......
Glyptothek
Glyptothek, museum in Munich that houses a renowned collection of Greek and Roman sculptures owned by the Bavarian......
Gober, Robert
Robert Gober is an American sculptor and installation artist known for his eerie and evocative reconsiderations......
Goldsworthy, Andy
Andy Goldsworthy is a British sculptor, land artist, and photographer known for ephemeral works created outdoors......
Gonzalez-Torres, Felix
Felix Gonzalez-Torres was a Cuban-born American sculptor, photographer, and conceptual artist known for work in......
González, Julio
Julio González was a Spanish sculptor and painter who developed the expressive use of iron as a medium for modern......
Gormley, Antony
Antony Gormley is a British sculptor and draftsman best known for his work with human forms, which he created chiefly......
Goujon, Jean
Jean Goujon was a French Renaissance sculptor of the mid-16th century. The earliest record of Goujon’s activity......
Great Sphinx of Giza
Great Sphinx of Giza, colossal limestone statue of a recumbent sphinx located in Giza, Egypt, that likely dates......
Greco, Emilio
Emilio Greco was an Italian sculptor of bronze and marble figurative works, primarily female nudes and portraits.......
Greenough, Horatio
Horatio Greenough was a Neoclassical sculptor and writer on art. He was the first known American artist to pursue......
Gujarāt woodwork
Gujarāt woodwork, architectural carving executed in the state of Gujarāt in India. Gujarāt was the chief centre......
Gérôme, Jean-Léon
Jean-Léon Gérôme was a painter, sculptor, and teacher, one of the most prominent late 19th-century academic artists......
Günther, Ignaz
Ignaz Günther was a sculptor who was one of the leading Rococo artists in Germany. Günther’s earliest studies in......
haniwa
haniwa, unglazed terra-cotta cylinders and hollow sculptures arranged on and around the mounded tombs (kofun) of......
Hanson, Duane
Duane Hanson was an American figurative sculptor whose lifelike figures made of cast fibreglass and polyester resin......
Heckel, Erich
Erich Heckel was a German painter, printmaker, and sculptor who was one of the founding members of Die Brücke (“The......
Hepworth, Barbara
Barbara Hepworth was a sculptor whose works were among the earliest abstract sculptures produced in England. Her......
Hernández, Gregorio
Gregorio Hernández was a Spanish sculptor whose works are among the finest examples of polychromed wood sculpture......
Hesse, Eva
Eva Hesse was a German-born American painter and sculptor known for using unusual materials such as rubber tubing,......
Hildebrand, Adolf von
Adolf von Hildebrand was a German artist and one of the first sculptors of the 19th century to insist upon the......
Hiragushi Denchū
Hiragushi Denchū was a sculptor who worked to preserve traditional Japanese wood-carving methods. Hiragushi set......
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, art museum and sculpture garden located in Washington, D.C., part of the......
Hoffman, Malvina
Malvina Hoffman was an American sculptor, remembered for her portraiture and for her unique sculptural contribution......
Horn, Roni
Roni Horn American conceptual sculptor, installation artist, draftsman, and photographer well known for her Iceland-based......
Hosmer, Harriet Goodhue
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer was an American sculptor, one of the leading female sculptors working in Rome in the 19th......
Houdon, Jean-Antoine
Jean-Antoine Houdon was a French sculptor whose religious and mythological works are definitive expressions of......
Humann, Karl
Karl Humann was a German engineer and archaeologist, whose excavation of the ancient Greek city of Pergamum (now......
Huntington, Anna Hyatt
Anna Hyatt Huntington was an American sculptor who brought great subtlety and vividness to equestrian and animal......
Indian sculpture
Indian sculpture, the sculptural traditions, forms, and styles of the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent.......
intaglio
intaglio, in sculpture, engraving or incised figure in stone or other hard material such that all lines appear......
Irwin, Robert
Robert Irwin was an American painter and sculptor known for pioneering the Light and Space movement, a variety......
ivory carving
ivory carving, the carving or shaping of ivory into sculptures, ornaments, and decorative or utilitarian articles.......
Jacobean age
Jacobean age, (from Latin Jacobus, “James”), period of visual and literary arts during the reign of James I of......
Jacopo della Quercia
Jacopo della Quercia was one of the most original Italian sculptors of the early 15th century. His innovative work......
Johnson, Sargent
Sargent Johnson was a versatile American artist known especially for his paintings and sculptures of African American......
Judd, Donald
Donald Judd was an American artist and critic associated with Minimalism. Credited as Minimalism’s principal spokesman,......
Jōchō
Jōchō was a great Japanese Buddhist sculptor who developed and perfected so-called kiyosehō, or joined-wood techniques.......
Jōgan style
Jōgan style, Japanese sculptural style of the Early Heian period (794–897). Works of Buddhist sculpture are the......
Kaikei
Kaikei was a Japanese sculptor who helped establish the traditional pattern of Buddhist sculpture. Together with......
Kapoor, Anish
Anish Kapoor is an Indian-born British sculptor known for his use of abstract biomorphic forms and his penchant......
Kelly, Ellsworth
Ellsworth Kelly was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker who was a leading exponent of the hard-edge style,......
Kemeny, Zoltan
Zoltan Kemeny was a Hungarian-born Swiss sculptor of dramatic metal reliefs. Kemeny was trained in cabinetmaking......
Key Marco carvings
Key Marco carvings, large group of carvings excavated at Key Marco in southern Florida that provide the finest......
Keyser, Hendrick de
Hendrick de Keyser was the most important Dutch sculptor of his day and an architect whose works formed a transition......
Kiefer, Anselm
Anselm Kiefer is a German painter who became one of the most prominent figures in the Neo-Expressionist art movement......
Kienholz, Edward
Edward Kienholz was an American self-taught sculptor known for his elaborate found-object assemblages, which convey......
Kiesler, Frederick John
Frederick John Kiesler was an Austrian-born American architect, sculptor, and stage designer, best known for his......
kinetic sculpture
kinetic sculpture, sculpture in which movement (as of a motor-driven part or a changing electronic image) is a......
Klinger, Max
Max Klinger was a German painter, sculptor, and engraver, whose art of symbol, fantasy, and dreamlike situations......
Kollwitz, Käthe
Käthe Kollwitz was a German graphic artist and sculptor who was an eloquent advocate for victims of social injustice,......
Koons, Jeff
Jeff Koons is one of a number of American artists to emerge in the 1980s with an aesthetic devoted to the decade’s......
kore
kore, type of freestanding statue of a maiden—the female counterpart of the kouros, or standing youth—that appeared......
korwar style
korwar style, type of carving of northwest New Guinea, particularly the Geelvink Channel region, in which bold,......
kouros
kouros, archaic Greek statue representing a young standing male. Although the influence of many nations can be......
Kraft, Adam
Adam Kraft was a sculptor of the Nürnberg school who introduced restraint into German late Gothic sculpture. Nothing......
Kuratsukuri Tori
Kuratsukuri Tori was the first great Japanese sculptor of the Asuka period (552–645). Tori belonged to the hereditary......
Kusama, Yayoi
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who is a self-described “obsessional artist,” known for her extensive use of......
Kushan art
Kushan art, art produced during the Kushan dynasty from about the late 1st to the 3rd century ce in an area that......
Kändler, Johann Joachim
Johann Joachim Kändler was a late Baroque sculptor who was a major innovator in European porcelain sculpture. In......
Lachaise, Gaston
Gaston Lachaise was a French-born American sculptor known for his massively proportioned female nudes. Lachaise......
lamassu
lamassu, monumental Mesopotamian relief sculptures dating from the 9th to the 7th century bce. Similar to Chinese......
Landseer, Sir Edwin
Sir Edwin Landseer was a British painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of animals. Landseer learned......
Laurana, Francesco
Francesco Laurana was an early Italian Renaissance sculptor and medalist, especially distinguished for his severely......
Laurens, Henri
Henri Laurens was a French sculptor known for his Cubist works and his later massive studies, particularly of the......
Lee Ufan
Lee Ufan is a Korean artist, critic, philosopher, and poet who was a prominent theorist and proponent of the Tokyo-based......
Lehmbruck, Wilhelm
Wilhelm Lehmbruck was a German sculptor, printmaker, and painter best known for his melancholy sculptures of elongated......
Leigh, Simone
Simone Leigh is an American artist perhaps best known for her ceramic sculptures, though she also creates works......
Lemoyne, Jean-Baptiste
Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne was a French sculptor chiefly important for his portrait busts. The pupil of his father,......
Leochares
Leochares was a Greek sculptor to whom the Apollo Belvedere (Roman copy, Vatican Museum) is often attributed. About......
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose skill and intelligence,......
Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute
Leonardo da Vinci discussed the parachute in a notebook entry now contained in the Codex Atlanticus. Although it......
Leoni, Leone
Leone Leoni was a Florentine sculptor, goldsmith, and medalist who had a tumultuous, yet successful, career in......
Leoni, Pompeo
Pompeo Leoni was an Italian late Renaissance sculptor and medalist who, like his father, Leone, was known for his......
Leshan Giant Buddha
Leshan Giant Buddha, the biggest stone Buddha statue in the world at 233 feet (71 m) high. It is carved into a......
Levine, Sherrie
Sherrie Levine is an American conceptual artist known for remaking famous 20th-century works of art either through......
Lewis, Edmonia
Edmonia Lewis was an American sculptor whose Neoclassical works exploring religious and classical themes won contemporary......
LeWitt, Sol
Sol LeWitt was an American artist whose work provides a link between Minimalism and conceptual art. LeWitt was......
Liberty, Statue of
Statue of Liberty, colossal statue on Liberty Island in the Upper New York Bay, U.S., commemorating the friendship......
Lin, Maya
Maya Lin is an American architect and sculptor concerned with environmental themes who is best known for her design......
Lipchitz, Jacques
Jacques Lipchitz was a Russian-born French sculptor whose style was based on the principles of Cubism; he was a......
Lippold, Richard
Richard Lippold was an American sculptor known for his intricate abstract wire constructions. Lippold studied at......
Lipton, Seymour
Seymour Lipton was an American sculptor known for his forceful metal sculptures of abstract organic forms. Lipton......
list of sculptors
This is a list of sculptors organized alphabetically by nationality. (See also...
Lombardo, Pietro
Pietro Lombardo was a leading sculptor and architect of Venice in the late 15th century, known for his significant......
Louis XIII style
Louis XIII style, visual arts produced in France during the reign of Louis XIII (1601–43). Louis was but a child......
Louis XIV style
Louis XIV style, visual arts produced in France during the reign of Louis XIV (1638–1715). The man most influential......
Louis XV style
Louis XV style, in the decorative arts, a Rococo style characterized by the superior craftsmanship of 18th-century......
Louis XVI style
Louis XVI style, visual arts produced in France during the reign (1774–93) of Louis XVI, which was actually both......
Lysippus
Lysippus was a Greek sculptor, head of the school at Árgos and Sicyon in the time of Philip of Macedon and especially......
Mahamuni
Mahamuni, brass Buddha statue (12 feet high), one of the most sacred images in Myanmar (Burma) and believed to......
Mai-chi-shan
Mai-chi-shan, one of three major sites in northern China’s Kansu sheng (province) where rock-cut Buddhist caves......

Sculpture Encyclopedia Articles By Title