The Sculptor's Funeral is the only podcast dedicated to figurative sculptors living and working today. Art history, tech talk, news, and interviews for the figurative sculptor working in the Western European tradition of figurative sculpture, along with a social media forum and listener mail/questions/comments make this podcast required listening for any sculptor who knows the Fine Arts aren't dead, they just smell a little funny.

Daniel Chester French is mostly remembered for sculpting the colossal Lincoln on the National Mall in Washington DC, but equally, he was America's master of memorials in the late 19th century. From the Minuteman to the Melvin Memorial, he produced works which helped promote the city beautiful movement far beyond the nation's capital.

Direct download: Episode_70_-_Daniel_Chester_French.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 9:12am EDT
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Episode 69 - The World's Fair and the City Beautiful

Is it Paris? Versailles? Venice? ...Chicago, actually! The stunning cityscape you see in  the image was known as the White City, a dreamlike place which existed for a few short years before disappearing - but its legacy lives on in cities and towns all over the United States, part of a phenomenon known as the City Beautiful Movement.

Direct download: -_The_Worlds_Fair_and_the_City_Beautiful.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 8:58am EDT
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Episode 68 - Mother of Exiles

 "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me..."

...The American ideals which the Statue of Liberty represents are hard to trump...

Direct download: Episode_68_-_Mother_of_Exiles.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 2:52pm EDT
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Episode 66 - Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Part Two

In the second half of this two-part episode, we discuss several works by Saint-Gaudens; monuments that in the hands of lesser sculptors would have been standard, run-of-the-mill statues. But in the hands of a genius, commonplaces become masterpieces.

Direct download: Episode_66_-_Augustus_Saint-Gaudens_Part_Two.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 6:58am EDT
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Episode 65 - Augustus Saint-Gaudens Part One

To tell the story the story of the career of Augustus Saint-Gaudens is to tell the story of American sculpture in the late 19th century. In the first of this two-part biography, we discuss the beginnings of his remarkable career, his unique achievements in low relief, and more.

Direct download: Edpisode_65_-_Augustus_Saint-Gaudens_Part_One.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:28pm EDT
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Episode 63 - Harriet Hosmer

Harriet Hosmer was known in her day as a 'Lady Sculptor', an 'Emancipated Woman', and as a leading member of 'The White Marmorean Flock'. What all the meant was that she was a successful, independent sculptor at a time when such a career path was hardly open to women. And today, she is barely known at all... In this episode, find out why her work and life is worth remembering.

Direct download: Episode_63_-_Harriet_Hosmer.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Romanticism Redux

Host Jason Arkles bids you all a Romantic Adieu (Don't worry, it's just the Season Finale) with this rebroadcast of the Romanticism podcast, as well as discusses the Sculptor's Funeral podcast itself and how it's doing, and gives a big thanks to those who have helped it become what it is.

Direct download: Episode_62_-_Romanticism_Redux.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 61 - Hiram Powers

The first American sculptor to achieve international fame, Hiram Powers, did so with a statue which was as controversial for its anti-slavery sentiment as it was for its (gasp!) nudity. We know that America eventually overcame the scourge of slavery; but how did 19th century America deal with the scourge of the nude in art?

Direct download: Episode_61_-_Hiram_Powers.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 60 - 'Merica

What New World? European settlers on the American continent brought Old World European tastes in sculpture with them from their earliest days, but it wasn't until 1825 that an American-born sculptor, Horatio Greenough, journeyed to Europe to learn how it was done.

Direct download: Episode_60_-_Merica.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 57 - Giovanni Duprè, Part Two

The second part of the dramatic reading from The Autobiography of Giovanni Duprè, in which Duprè receives a crit from Lorenzo Bartolini, is accused of art fraud, and nearly causes the accidental death of his nude model. We've all been there, right?

Direct download: Episode_57_-_Dupre_Part_Two.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 56 - Giovanni Duprè, Part One

The Sculptor's Funeral Theater is back with another dramatic reading! The Autobiography of Giovanni Duprè is the memoir of a man who had to fight every step of the way to achieve his dream of becoming a sculptor. Though written over a century ago, his struggles and his triumphs are familiar to many figurative sculptors and sculpture students today.

Direct download: Episode_56_-_Giovanni_Dupre_part_1.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 54 - Lorenzo Bartolini

This episode kicks of the exploration of the OTHER 19th century in sculpture - the one occurring outside the milieu of Paris. Lorenzo Bartolini shaped the sculpture of 19th century Italy, evolving the Neoclassicism of Canova into a ethos which sought to seek Beauty in Truth, and Truth in Beauty.

Direct download: Episode_54_-_Lorenzo_Bartolini.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 31 - Rodin Part Two: Off the Pedestal

The Burghers of Calais, and the monument to Balzac - two highly controversial monuments commissioned from August Rodin at the height of his powers. Why were they controversial? What did they mean? And how did they forever change how we create and value public art? The exploration of Rodin's work and powerful legacy continues in the second of a two part podcast.

Direct download: Episode_31_-_Rodin_Part_Two_-_Off_the_Pedestal.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 30 - Rodin Part One - The Force of Nature

The Last of the Old Masters, or the first Modern Sculptor? Yes, indeed. Auguste Rodin retains more influence over figurative sculpture today than any other sculptor in history. This first of a two-part discussion on the life and Work of Rodin wonders if figurative sculpture today is under the spell of Rodin, the way the Mannerist Era sculptors were held captive by the mighty Michelangelo.

Direct download: Episode_20_-_Rodin_Part_One_-_The_Force_of_Nature.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 28 - Alfred Gilbert

One of the greatest English sculptors in history, Alfred Gilbert isn't a household name, but he should be. A champion of the Arts and Crafts Movement whose personal style strongly inflenced the look of Art Nouveau, Gilbert's work stands out for its originality in an Age of Originals that was the late 19th century sculptural scene.

Direct download: Episode_28_-_Alfred_Gilbert.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 27 - The New Sculpture Movement

The Free Style. The New Sculpture. The French Manner. Call it what you want - one thing is certain, the marriage of Victorian English sensibilities and French modelling technique conspired to produce sculpture of a variety and style that England had never seen.

Direct download: Episode_27_-The_New_Sculpture_Movement.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 26 - The 19th Century Sculptural Renaissance

A new Renaissance, a Golden Age - Whatever you call it, Paris in the second half of the 19th century saw a greater number of master sculptors doing work in more unprecedented ways than the world had seen since the early Florentine Renaissance. This episode takes a look as several sculptors and highlights their individual originalities as well as their relation to each other.

Direct download: Episode_26_-_the_19th_century_sculptural_renaissance.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 25 - Carpeaux and the Second Empire

"Those who have seen it have not forgotten the magnificent tipsy laugh of the figures in the dancing group on the front of the Opera; you seem to hear it, as you pass, above the uproar of the street." Is this remark from Henry James praising Carpeaux's masterpiece The Dance, or damning it? Yes. But whether a person loved or hated the sensual rhythms of The Dance, it and its creator could not be ignored.

Direct download: Episode_25_-_Carpeaux_and_the_Second_Empire.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 3:06am EDT
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Episode 24 - Young Carpeaux

The crude and arrogant son of a mason, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux became the exuberant sculptural voice of the Second Empire and is the greatest sculptor of the period between Canova and Rodin. Funny how 20 years of art school can change a person... This episode charts the education of Carpeaux in all its twists and turns, revealing that the greatest influence on Carpeaux's work was his own stubborn ambition.

Direct download: Episode_24_-_Young_Carpeaux.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 23 - Inside the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts

What was life like for a sculpture student of the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts in the 19th century? What did it take to win the coveted Prix de Rome? Jason examines some firsthand accounts of students and critics of the Ecole, highlighting the similarities with - and differences from - contemporary art training in academies and ateliers.

Direct download: Episode_23_-_Inside_the_Ecole_Des_Beaux-Arts.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 22 - Rude Awakening

Francois Rude is likely the most important sculptor you've never heard of... Known today as 'the father of naturalism is sculpture', during his own lifetime he was exiled, denied official recognition, and relegated to a corner of the Parisian sculptural scene - and despite everyone's best efforts, changed the course of art history anyway. Find out what debt we all owe to Francois Rude in this episode of The Sculptor's Funeral.

Direct download: Episode_22_-_Rude_Awakening.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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Episode 21 - Isn't it Romantic?

Frankenstein's Monster, scenes of disaster and shipwreck, Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven'... what could be more Romantic? in this episode, Jason explores the Romantic movement in art, a direct competitor to Neoclassicism, and answers your burning questions as to what flowers and chocolates on St. Valentine's Day have to do with 1st century Greek  literature.

Direct download: Episode_21_-_Isnt_it_Romantic.mp3
Category:19th Century -- posted at: 12:00am EDT
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