Painted Plaster – Lehmbruck – Torso of the Pensive Woman (Scarlett el-Khazen)
- The oldest western example of cast stone- wall surrounding the medieval city, Carcassonne, France – 1138
- this sculpture created in Germany one year before Lehmbruck’s death, 1919, age 38
- cast stone-mixture of materials to imitate the appearance of weathered, natural stone, with a variety of finishes, it is less expensive than metals, hence, Lehmbruck’s preference for this economical medium-his substitute for costly bronze
- cement is dry clay and limestone, mixed with water and/or pigment, the less water the stronger the mixture to this additional:
- cementing agents of silica, stone dust or different sized aggregates, are crushed and ground, animal or plant glues are extra binders (adhesives)-these agents reinforce and improve compressive strength and control the shrinkage.
- the curatorial department concurs the torso is cast stone and painted plaster. The wall text states it is painted plaster.
Indirect Casting Process:
- the original model is made of clay
- a plaster form is made around the entire model
- dry plaster mould is removed from the clay model in sections then reassembled for the
- melted wax to be painted, ‘slushed’ inside the mould to build up an inner layer, after hardening
- remove wax casting from mould, the duplicate of the original model is hollow, fit wax casting with rods and pins
- encased in solid plaster to fill and surround, heat and the melted wax runs out and the cast stone mixture is poured into the void
- dry plaster is broken away to expose the cast stone
- clean, touch up flaws and fill seams, apply painted plaster
Painted Plaster Technique
- an oil based casting plaster powder is sifted into heated oil and anthracite silt, a coal carbon, and is applied to overall torso with brushes-this is the paint, semi gloss finish appears as metal to viewer with fissure lines and pockmarks implying age and weathering
- sheen achieved by hand polishing with wax or lacquers
Expressionism – concentrates on our emotions and moods, at times including the grotesque or violent rather than our impressions and imitations of the external world, i.e., Van Gogh and Munch paintings. Lehmbruck made many figures, deconstructed the heads and limbs, and elongated his torsos. His tectonic (closed forms) evolved into his later expressive fragmentary and reduced ones leading the way for future artists of abstraction. This was a break through to the Classical Modern age in casting and sculpting techniques.
A patina is the result by oxidation producing the process of erosion. It is usually a green or a brown surface film on bronze and other metals (copper penny, verdigris patina). Paint is a dry powder usually mixed with a suitable liquid to give color, i.e. glues, wax or oils.
1898 – Lehmbruck illustrated scientific drawings and was awarded scholarships for his training at Dusseldorf Art Academy, Germany in neoclassicism orientation.
1910 – In Paris he developed his personal style, specifically, introverted and beyond visual terms, defined by scale and proportion. These linear silhouettes featured his ideal figures of man and woman. He made many ‘pensive women’ pieces with heads and extremities and then removed them to explore the contemplative spirit not fully revealed through facial expressions and positioning of limbs.
1914-1919 – With his forced return to Berlin and the threat of WW1, he was assigned as a medic, fled military duty and continued to work as a successful artist. He suffered from ongoing bouts of depression. Lehmbruck died a year after completing this sculpture, 1919 age 38.
He associated himself with Expressionism. Parallel to his sculptures Lehmbruck painted portraits and nudes and produced etchings of the conflict-laden themes featured in his sculptures. Subtlety, he emphasized their significance as the bearer of emotions, moral and spiritual attitudes, ones that transcend the boundary between artist and viewer-He provided considerable contributions to the modern image of the human form in 20th c. art with his “extrasensory tectonics and abstract expressiveness”.