40 Years of Faces: Rockwell Exhibit Explores the FantasticalBy Jonathan Del Sordo
iBerkshires Intern
04:40PM / Monday, July 13, 2009
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Crossing the threshold into Peter Rockwell's retrospective exhibit is as much a matter of leaping across an artistic perspective as it is a generation gap.
Snugged within the oft-sentimentalized works of his father, Norman Rockwell, the son offers a harder and more abstract look at the world.
Dressed in khakis and a button-down shirt, the laid-back sculptor discussed his creative process last week during a private walk-through of "Fantastical Faces" at the Norman Rockwell Museum.
Despite living with the famed illustrator and modeling for his works, Rockwell doesn't believe his father really influenced his growth as an artist.
"In reality, not much," he said when questioned about his father's effect. "As a sculptor, I'm doing a completely different set of artistic values. Determination and hard work, I'd have to say, but that's about it."
Rockwell's life works on display at the museum cover 40 years, from drawings to portraits to marble carvings.
He attended Haverford College, attaining a degree in English literature in 1958. It wasn't until his junior year that he found interest in sculpting, and went on to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. In 1961, Rockwell was awarded a traveling fellowship to study at the Scola di Marmo in Carrara, Italy, and has lived and worked in Rome ever since.
Most of the sculpted works are in the retrospective are of fantastical figures, acrobats and, of course, faces.
"I like to play with the human figure. Most of the time, however, I start carving with no specific idea, but gradually develop it in the process," said Rockwell, later adding, "In a good circus act, you see people using their bodies for the sheer enjoyment of movement. That's why I like to capture with my acrobats."
Rockwell's love of acrobats — and playful movement — is apparent in his faces and figures.
"When someone poses for you, you don't want them to be quiet. You want them to talk, you want their faces to move, because that's what we see in a person – all different expressions," he said. "I found that I had a natural three-dimensional sense that was satisfied by working in sculpture."
Rockwell is not only a sculptor; in the exhibit, he illustrates his abilities with his version of the Stations of the Cross on wood carvings. In addition, he has drawings that were adapted by a close friend, Ditka Peebles, into a published book of poetry called "O Ravishing Root."
Despite his long career, Rockwell coined himself as "semi-successful. It all depends on commissions and I've been lucky enough that about half my work has been sold."
Rockwell's 'Three Scenes From Family Life.' |
His commissions include several at the museum; Boston College has a bronze fountain and gargoyles modeled by the sculptor peer from the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (Rockwell did not have the rare but requisite sculptor's license to carve the gargoyles himself.)
Among the varied sculptures, the models for the section "The Tree of Life" were one of his success stories, he said.
"I have been fascinated with trees ever since my childhood in Vermont," said Rockwell, whose family once resided in Arlington. The small sculpted trees were noticed in the late 1990s by representatives at Boston College, resulting in the 10-foot bronze tree fountain that now resides on the campus.
Asked what is his favorite piece in the gallery, he went directly to a wall where a painted resin picture hangs. Titled "Three Scenes from Family Life" (1985), Rockwell explained it as "three separate stories in one. It represents my family and I, and this piece is something I really enjoy looking back on time and time again."
The exhibit is scheduled to run through Oct. 25. |
