Hidden Eden at the Hirshhorn Museum
Across from the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is another sculpture garden full of wonders. If one walks across the rectangular mall towards the Hirshhorn Museum you will find when you peek over the garden wall a secret garden waiting full of delights. This sunken garden is tucked away full of some many delights you may think that you have stumbled across the garden of the gods or at least a garden of Eden full of outdoor sculpture. Within the grounds of garden, you will find sculptures of Modern Art, Avant Garde Art, Realistic Art, and whimsical art. In fact, this designated area is a sculpture museum center for the Smithsonian.
https://youtu.be/0dDvXwFP2uASculptures in Our Video
Arnoldo Pomodoro Shere No. 6
Arnoldo Pomodoro says that the inner ball represents the Earth and outer ball represents Christianity. The design if the internal layers which look like the gears or cogwheels of a complex machines symbolizes the fragility and complexity of the world.
Crouching Woman By Auguste Rodin
This bronze sculpture is depicting a woman in physical and emotional suffering. As she sites in grave emotional pain, she is clutching her breast to show that she is still willing to give maternal love.
Eros Inside Eros by Arman
Arman created this sculpture by cutting up the classical torso depicted Eros the god of love and sexuality, casting the pieces in bronze. Nothingness inside are both amusing and disturbing to find. This work is best seen by walking around the sculpture.
Evocation of a form, human, lunar, spectral by Jean Arp
A surrealist movement artist that was one of the founding members of the Dada Movement he uses form and chance to produce an abstract biomorphic sculpture. You are looking the human figure melding into an ethereal lunar landscape.
For Gordon Bunshaft by Dan Graham
When you step inside you can see in the mirrors both yourself and anyone standing outside at the same time as well as the surrounding landscape. The artists describes these structures of mirror and wood as hybrids: one side derived from traditional Japanese architecture, while the other two sides allude to modern corporate architecture of the iconic Hirshhorn building.
King and Queen by Henry Moore
According to Moore, speaking years later, the work was inspired by double statues of male and female figures from Ancient Egypt, and by fairy tales read to his daughter Mary.
Needle Tower by Kenneth Snelson
This sculpture is held together in perfect balance by a single continuous wire. This tube and wire sculpture is as tall as a five-story building. It has the strength to withstand severe storms. Next time you are visiting stand inside and look up. You will see a star.
Post-Balzac by Judith Shea
This is a depiction of the writer Balzac robe without the man. Mrs. Shea’s feelings about the spiritual emptiness and disillusionment of the modern era.
Seated Woman by Henry Moore
Henry Moore was influenced by Paul Cézanne’s art. This sculpture was created to honor motherhood. But as you can see the sculpture has no identity or narrative. You can easily tell that she is pregnant. In fact, Henry Moore created many sculptures of solid maternal women.
Seated Yucatan Woman by Francisco Zuniga
The artists admired peasant women of Central America. He is showing women who manage to survive the hardships of poverty. The statue is serenely resting after a hard day.
Self-Portrait with Model at Bergamo by Giacomo Manzu
Artist have documented life in many ways. This Self-Portrait shows how we are very good at adapting when life is difficult. This shows how the sculpture had to take up painting during World War II because he couldn’t get ahold of materials. He also is showing that he had to work with his coat and hat on because he couldn’t afford to heat his studio.
Still Life with Spirit and Xitle by Jimmie Durham
This rock represents the spirits of the ancient smacking down the modern world. I think that the face of the ancient world is saying, “I have done a funny.”
Subcommittee by Tony Cragg
An ironic symbol for bureaucracies everywhere. The sculpture is a rack of rubber stamps made from low-grade steel, which is slowly rusting away at the speed of governments.
The Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin
This is a memorial from Calais in France honoring heroes of the Hundred Years’ War. Rodin broke with traditional monuments and showed the heroes full of emotion, suppressed strength, and enlarged hands and feet. This monument is a historic touch stone for many future portrayals of heroic monuments.
The Drummer by Barry Flanagan
This artist has never explained his anthropomorphic images. The closest correlation that I can think of is the animalistic characteristics that have been seen in Japanese art. From the frog that is fishing with his fishing pole to Hello Kitty.
The Great Warrior of Montauban by Emile-Antoine Bourdelle
This image is capturing the determination of defenders in wars to hold back the invading army. Although this bronze sculpture was a failure in the eyes of the commissioned committee, it has strength using Rodin’s ideas combined with ancient Greek sculptures, and culturally famous scenes.
Walking Man by Auguste Rodin
Another sculpture showing how Rodin was willing to push further. This sculpture is a symbol of with physical torment that he continues to move forward with purpose. This work is another historic touch stone for future artists.
