FIRST 3 OBJECTS
FINAL OBJECT (Boy and Duck by Frederick William MacMonnies 1895-96)
description (and research): This sculpture/fountain piece is quite playful and whimsical. I’ve past it many times and have always been attracted to it, which is why it is the object I chose. In comparison to the other statues in Gallery 700 at the Met Boy and Duck is so much lighter and cheerful than its surrounding counterparts, which is why I was attracted to it. Because this piece is so whimsical you’re left wondering what it is all about, a naked boy with a duck is quite a different sculpture. Based on these observations I think it is important to learn about why MacMonnies used a boy and his duck as a subject to be sculpted. After coming home I did some research on the matter. I first consulted the Met website for information. I gathered that MacMonnies creates exuberant sculptures due to his affiliation with contemporary French sculpture throughout most of his career. Apparently, the subject of a child attempting to capture an animal is quite common, and MacMonnies experienced these artworks on a trip to Italy in 1894, triggering him to make work inspired by this tradition. After reading about this I dove further in to the research and found that this subject matter was revived during the Italian Renaissance period around the 1420s, and carried over into ninetieth-century French/American sculpture.
resources:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11477?&searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&high=on&ao=on&ft=child+with+duck&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=1
I used the Met website to gather generic information of the piece, as well as using the description the the piece to begin and guide my research.
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Italian_Renaissance
This site was used to contextualize the theme of nude boys and animals that appear in Boy and Duck.
https://books.google.com/books?id=8jr6vNLLYMgC&pg=PA440&lpg=PA440&dq=nude+boy+struggling+with+a+feisty+animal&source=bl&ots=gs4F7hkJNN&sig=ACfU3U1DgU4ad6qhvbAQGjBbNra9_YFS6g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJw8ym4rLkAhUITN8KHQ0_Bz0Q6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=nude%20boy%20struggling%20with%20a%20feisty%20animal&f=false
This excerpt of this book was used to further inquire into MacMonnies and Boy with Duck
important key words: emotive, whimsical, delicate/light, youth, bronze
MAP
