B.A.I.D.

[mountshang]

Here's a little essay on the Beaux Arts Institute of Design:

http://www.keropiansculpture.com/writings.html

When I was raising the issue of "connectivity" a few weeks ago -- this is where that concept took root (and later was cut down) in American sculpture education.

A connectivity not just between the parts of a sculpture - but also between those parts and the surrounding architectural space.

Here's the Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaux-A...tute_of_Design

....where you'll notice "The beginning of the study of design as soon as the student enters the atelier" -- rather an immediate, almost exclusive emphasis on anatomy that seems to characterize the neo-academic ateliers.

This was the European tradition - centered in Paris (hence the "Beaux Arts" in its title) -- that had educated the earlier generation of American sculptors like St. Gaudens who had studied there.

And it's still alive in Europe - especially in the old republics of the USSR.

But in America it's a dim memory - and quite irrelevant to our leading gesture sculptors like Richard McDonald.

[grommet]

Is that you?

[mountshang]

Originally Posted by grommet

Is that you?

No - that's Michael Keropian -- I'm over here:

http://www.ilovefiguresculpture.com/cjm/chrism.html

Both of us have connections to B.A.I.D. students -- though it was closed before we were born.