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 Replies: 26 / Views: 4,044 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
844 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8904 Posts |
Edited by Moe145
11/22/2012 11:34 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3755 Posts |
Quote:
The Lady Barber won first place in her local gay bar's drag queen beauty pageant.  Exactly! Sorry Moe, I like Barbers as much as the next guy, but there is no arguing the masculinity of that Liberty. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1227 Posts |
Speaking as someone with a lot of art majors for friends, I only see two problems and both of them appear to be foreshortening issues: her right leg and shoulder. The leg appears to be disconnected from the torso, which would be the natural result of having a model who sat face-on in a chair instead of actually turning the model to sit in the same leaning position as Liberty. The shoulder, of course, is too long, which again would be a result of not having the model's arm turned correctly. One of my college friends who now works for Pixar says the hips are the most difficult part of a body to draw second only to photorealistic hands and feet, for the specific reason that they are the only joint that can move almost 360 degrees, depending on your flexibility level.
I would say the artist didn't use his model correctly, or perhaps was embarrassed to ask her to change to his specifications; I once modeled for a panorama of Disney characters for one of Britney's assignments and among other things was asked to costume myself for one character in a towel-turban and a blanket draped across a curtain-rod, over my prom dress while carrying a furled umbrella, so that I could effectively be a model for a drawing of Jafar. If you're not willing to seriously ask for ridiculous things with a straight face, you're not going to get far. The posture of the Sitting Liberty suggests that the artist was embarrassed to ask his model to wear a bedsheet and recline; the position of the fabric isn't precisely problematic but doesn't look entirely natural, and the foreshortening of the left side compared to the right side is flawless. There's almost an actual line of demarcation where the foreshortening goes from perfect to awful.
Edited by ninamason
11/22/2012 3:19 pm
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Valued Member
United States
84 Posts |
Nina, as a sculptor, I would have to say you are correct. There could be other reasons for the oddness too, such as an unmakeable deadline, or the artist was probably quite a novice at doing such small relief work. Who knows! Would be an interesting history research project.
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New Member
United States
38 Posts |
It seems like collectors still hate Barber's designs 120 years after they appeared. Collector didn't like them in the 1890's either.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
I think we have to lay the Seated Liberty difficulties on the doorstep of Christian Gobrecht, who engraved it. The design was created by Thomas Sully, one of the great portrait artists of the time - his painting of Andrew Jackson is what you see on the $20 bill. This is his original for the Seated Liberty:  The shoulders are slightly off but more believable since her sitting position is better-explained in Sully's image. With that said, it must be considered that the original intent was for this design to be the only obverse device - evidenced by the Gobrecht dollar, the first coin struck to the design - and it can be assumed that Gobrecht desired to "spread it out" somewhat to avoid large open fields. Behind all of this was Robert Patterson, the newly-hired Director of the Mint whose desire was to create all-new US coinage. It was his dictate that an obverse using a seated figure, and a reverse using a flying eagle, be created, and his approvals finalized the designs. |
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Moderator
United States
189340 Posts |
Now that I see the original image, the one used on the coinage does look... odd.
I almost wish you had not posted it, but I am glad you did. It is very interesting.
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Valued Member
 United States
108 Posts |
+1 jbuck. The original painting is much better!
-Jay
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3755 Posts |
Yeah, as much as I love the design on the coin, that original is MUCH better.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
To me, Seated Liberty look like she's sitting in a wheelchair, especially the worn ones.
And the original art? Long torso, short legs. And it looks a bit racy for the day with all that leg showing. Maybe the then-PowersThatBe thought so too since they covered her up.
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Replies: 26 / Views: 4,044 |
First Page
Posted 11/22/2012 11:33 am
