‘The sister arts’: Modern Sculpture and its settings in Britain, c. 1725-1895

As the Critical Appraisal explains, my publications address a fundamental issue in the way that the history of sculpture in Britain (c. 1725-1895) has been approached and written. The significance of architectural settings and related crafts is often underestimated by discussing sculptures as independent works of art, as part of the modern art world led by painters and exhibitions. My publications (since 1983) have promoted a more contextual understanding of the sculpture of this era. I have explored sculpture as an aspect of architectural design and of the decorative crafts, demonstrating the web of patronage and other, overlapping, professions within which sculptors worked in this period. As both fine and decorative art, sculpture is the key medium with which to reconcile this artificial divide, which I attribute mainly to the founders of the Royal Academy and to their influence on historians. My publications demonstrate continuity between sculpture, furniture and interior design, from the 1720s to the 1880s. A key link, and my core subject of study, is Thomas Banks (1735-1805), the Royal Academy’s heroic father of the British School of neoclassical sculpture. I revealed how he had wider concerns than ideal statues and independent bas-reliefs. Having trained in the decorative crafts and guild system he was exceptional among neoclassical sculptors in being a virtuoso carver himself, and one who cared about interior design and furnishings. I have shown how later sculptors and designers for sculpture also integrated sculptures with their settings, both visually and intellectually, and how new understandings can be found by reconstructing the way sculptures looked and worked in their historic locations. The Critical Appraisal is in four parts: aims and methodology; terminology; the field; the submitted work; conclusion. Part three situates my work not only in the field of sculpture but also of British architecture, furniture and interior design. My publications demonstrate a distinct approach that reflects my employment not as a historian of sculpture nor as a curator of sculpture, but rather as a curator of historic houses and of international exhibitions, where sculpture, furniture, architecture and paintings are studied together as equals, among the ‘sister arts’ of visual culture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Year dc:date

2019

Author dc:creator

• Bryant, Julius

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/3kwa-1g07

OAI identifier oai:identifier

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