Casting the Die: 'The Age of Bronze' in Leeds

Description

Inspired by an encounter with Rodin's The Age of Bronze in Leeds Art Gallery, artist David Ward undertook a Research Fellowship at the Henry Moore Institute. This book portrays his research and thoughts on this impressive sculpture.

“I am writing about this sculpture because it stopped me in my tracks. I thought that I knew the work, having looked closely at other casts of it, many times, over many years. But unexpectedly seeing this beautifully stained cast for the first time was a strange, moving and shocking pleasure. I felt that I was seeing the sculpture for the first time, or rather, actually seeing the sculpture anew.

In this essay I reflect on my experience of looking at this sculpture, not in order to try to fix its meaning, but rather to indulge in unfolding a range of possibilities; of ideas, associations and potential understandings of the sculpture... I hope that what follows will read as an intentionally speculative and interpretative text, responsive to historical reference but not determined by it.”

- David Ward, 1996