The Fleischer Museum
photo by John Hazeltine
Scottsdale, AZ
480-585-3108
Masterworks of American Sculpture: Selections from the Members of the National Sculpture Society, 1875-1999
As the twentieth century
comes to a close, Fleischer Museum, in conjunction with National
Sculpture Society, opens a comprehensive exhibit commemorating the
dawn of a new millennium. Masterworks of American Sculpture: Selections
from the Members of the National Sculpture Society, 1875-1999 documents
the history of United States sculpture through architecture, national monuments
and public art. This landmark exhibit will be the first major exhibition
of it's kind in the southwestern United States. It opens October 20, 1999
and extends through May 1, 2000. More than 110 pieces of sculpture will
be on display representing some fifty-nine historical, fifty-one contemporary
members and over 35 photo murals. (left: Malvina Hoffman (1885-1966),
Russian Dancers (Ball State Univ.), 1911, bronze, 10 x 11 1/4 x 5
inches)
The National Sculpture Society, located in New York City, is the oldest organization of professional sculptors in the United States. It was founded in 1893 by some of America's most prestigious artists. Among members whose works will be represented in the exhibit are Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon (Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.), Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Admiral David Farragut Memorial, and The Puritan, 1889), Victor Brenner (United States Penny), James Earl Fraser (End of the Trail, 1918), John Gutzon Borglum (Mount Rushmore) and Paul Manship (Diana). These artists' works are some of the most important and enduring contributions to traditional figurative sculpture in America.
Recent public commissions by National Sculpture
Society members, which will be represented in the exhibition, include Vietnam
Women's Memorial by Glenna Goodacre, and FDR Memorial,
by Neil Estern. Aldo Casanova, Fred 
Brownstein, Dan
Ostermiller, Kent Ullberg and Steve Kestrel will be represented in the exhibition
among others. These artists continue to contribute to public sculpture in
this nation, as well as being represented in museums, and corporate and
private collections around the world. (left: Richard Blake, Woman
in a Folding Chair, 27 x 20 x 18 inches, 1995, bronze; right Neil Estern,
FDR Memorial, 1994)
Although produced continuously since the early 19th century,
figurative sculpture in America has passed in and out of vogue over time.
The current renewal of interest among art historians, 
collections and
the general public reflects a renaissance in American figurative sculpture.
The impact of ideas and techniques presented in Masterworks of American
Sculpture: Selections from the National Sculpture Society 1875-1999
places these artists in the forefront of the renaissance. (right:
Aldo Casanova, Stranger in Paradise III, 1992, bronze, 12 x 10 x
26 inches)
Fleischer Museum opened in 1990 as the first museum dedicated to American Impressionism, the California school. In addition to the exhibition, the Museum will host a series of concerts, lectures, sculpture classes, and special events on Sunday afternoons at 2 PM. A copiously illustrated exhibition catalog and other related publications are available for sale. The Museum is open daily to the public from 10 AM to 4 PM, closed holidays, free of charge.
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