Artist: Bill Mack
Title: Beethoven (Bonded Bronze)
Year created: 1984
Medium: Bonded Bronze Sculpture, Alto- & Bas-Relief, in Original Studio Custom Framing
Edition: 57/66, of Rare Hand-Signed and Numbered Limited Edition
Height (inches): 52
Width (inches): 42
Depth (inches): 3
Signed by the artist
Signed Area: front
This piece is framed.
Description of piece:
The elegant and substantial medium of bonded bronze gives this original Bill Mack Beethoven sculpture its deeply lustrous finish. Measuring 52” in height x 42” width x 3” depth, this grand-scaled work is a striking and dramatic presentation piece.
Evocative of the timeless elegance of Beethoven’s music, and the power of his musical genius, this classic sculptural portrait of Beethoven incorporates high-relief, 3-dimensional elements and bas-relief sculpting. The prominent figure of Beethoven is deeply and finely sculpted, replete with rich detail.
Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most widely recognized and admired composers in the history of Western music; as a master of classical music, his compositions were an important bridge between the Classical and Baroque era styles he admired and the Romantic style his music would come to personify.
Bill Mack’s portrait of Beethoven is rendered with great depth and fine detailing. In the lower right, in calligraphy script, the work bears the inscription “the gracious mouth by which music spoke”, sculpted in bas-relief— a quote from the masterful oration given at Beethoven’s memorial service in 1827, which was attended by an estimated 10,000 - 30,000 people. The full passage from the moving memorial oration: “But the last master of resounding song, the gracious mouth by which music spoke, the man who inherited and increased the immortal fame of Handel and Bach, of Haydn and Mozart, has ceased to be; and we stand weeping over the broken strings of an instrument now stilled.”
The work is signed by the artist, lower left. The artist has additionally included the Edition number, 57/65, to his signature. This stately bonded bronze sculptural artwork is quintessential Bill Mack, and is arguably one of Mack’s finest creations.
Beethoven comes framed in its original custom framing from the artist's studio, featuring fine linen dimensional structured matting and a high-gloss black lacquer frame with tiered detailing. The work's original framing has been freshly papered on the back.
The work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Artist bio:
He has no mentors. There is nowhere to go to learn his art. No one teaches his technique. Sculptor Bill Mack works in such a rare art form that coming up with a name to describe it has been only slightly less arduous than creating the art itself.
"Calling my artwork solely bas-relief," Mack says, "is incorrect since bas-relief technically refers to low relief sculpture. My art, in fact, has more physical depth than high relief; it incorporates various elements in full-round, rising toward the viewer."
Combining low and high relief, incised lines, and elements in the full-round in sculpture works that are light enough to be hung on a wall, Mack directly involves the viewer in a 3-dimensional experience, both textural and tactile, that is often startling real. He utilizes techniques combining various levels of relief and full-round portions called 'Alto Relief' sculptures, similar to techniques used in classic Roman and Greek buildings.
"Mack's art elicits an immediate emotional response," notes one critic. "A moment in time is stopped, a familiar face revealed, the grace of a body in motion captured. The viewer becomes more than an observer; he becomes a participant in the drama unfolding before his eyes."
With exhibits in galleries from New York City to Beverly Hills, and from Tokyo to Frankfurt, Mack’s work has been collected by Presidents Clinton, Ford and Reagan; actors such as Sylvester Stallone, Elizabeth Taylor, and Tony Curtis; and celebrities as diverse as Kenny Rogers, comic Howie Mandel, and record producer Jimmy "Jam" Harris.
