Sculptor, Edouard Lanteri (1 November 1848 – 22 December 1917) taught modelling at the South Kensington Arts Schools. Towards the end of his life he wrote a series of three books, explaining the art of human and animal composition in sculpture. The books were re-issued in 1965 (new edition 1985) as two volumes, Modelling and Sculpting the Human Figure and Modelling and Sculpting Animals by Dover Publications. They are regarded as the definative texts for those wishing to pursue the figurative.
With the exception of Lanteri’s work there are few other sources of information on the techniques of past masters. Rupert Gunnis’s Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660 – 1851 contains almost 12,000 entries. So much information on the sculptor’s working methods has been taken to the grave. So much has been irretrievably lost!
Inevitably, I constantly find myself re-inventing the wheel. Just occassionally I find a clue, such as in this rare photograph taken in Rodin’s studio. The stand enables the model to hold and revert back to a pose.
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