Sculpture "When the lady smiles" (1995), bronze
Sculpture "When the lady smiles" (1995), bronze
Quick info
limited, 99 copies | numbered | signed | hallmarked | bronze + marble | patinated | polished | size total 80 x 15 x 15 cm (h/w/d) | weight 10 kg
Detailed description
Sculpture "When the lady smiles" (1995), bronze
With his graceful bronze sculptures, Dutchman Marc van Megen conjures up a world in which, far from the realities of everyday life, fantasy and idealism set the tone. "When the lady smiles" is what the artist named his creation, a woman's body of super-slim elegance growing out of a calyx, on her head a dream of a hat.
Bronze sculpture. Limited world edition of only 99 copies. Cast using the Lost-Wax-Process. Finely polished, two-tone patinated, numbered and signed, with a hallmark of the foundry. Mounted on a black marble pedestal 15 x 15 x 10 cm. Height incl. pedestal 80 cm. Weight 10 kg.
Producer: ars mundi Edition Max Büchner GmbH, Bödekerstraße 13, 30161 Hanover, Germany Email: info@arsmundi.de
About Marc van Megen
The Dutchman Marc van Megen was born in Venlo on 6 August 1968. During his studies at the Academy of Industrial Design in Eindhoven, he felt an inner urge to give his immense creativity expression through the production of bronze sculptures. Since completing his studies in 1992, he has become a visual artist whose work constantly revolves around the imaginative, detailed representation of the feminine.
Van Megen gives the viewer the possibility of being transported into an unreal world in which limitations do not seem to exist. His sculptures form an exciting mixture of naturalism, Art Nouveau and surrealism, mostly combined with a touch of mythology.
Exhibitions of his works in various first-class galleries show that van Megen's art catches the spirit of the times.
An alloy of copper with other metals (especially with tin) used since ancient times. It is an ideal metal for high-quality artistic castings, capable of enduring for millennia.
When casting bronze, the artist usually applies the lost-wax technique which is dating back more than 5000 years. This is the best, but also the most complex method of producing sculptures.
First, the artist forms a model of their work. This model is embedded in a liquid silicone rubber mass. Once the material has solidified, the model is cut out, leaving a negative mould. Liquid wax is then poured into the negative mould. After cooling down, the wax cast is removed from the mould, provided with sprues and dipped into ceramic mass. The ceramic mass is hardened in a kiln, where the wax melts away (lost mould).
Finally, the negative mould is ready, into which the 1400° C hot molten bronze is poured. After the bronze had cooled down, the ceramic shell is broken apart, reavoling the sculpture.
Next, the sprues are removed, the surfaces are polished, patinated and numbered by the artist or by a specialist, following their instructions. Thus, each casting is an original work.
For lower-quality bronze castings, the sand casting method is often used, which, however, does not achieve the results of a more elaborate lost-wax technique in terms of surface characteristics and quality.
Term for an art object (sculpture, installation) that, according to the artist’s intention, is produced in multiple copies within a limited and numbered edition.
Multiples enable the "democratization" of art by making the work accessible and affordable for a wider audience.
A plastic work of sculptural art made of wood, stone, ivory, bronze or other metals.
While sculptures made of wood, ivory, or stone are carved directly from the material block, in bronze casting, a working model is prepared at first. Usually, it is made of clay or other easily mouldable materials.
The prime time of sculpture after the Greek and Roman antiquity was the Renaissance. Impressionism gave a new impulse to the sculptural arts. Contemporary artists such as Jorg Immendorf, Andora, and Markus Lupertz also enriched sculptures with outstanding works.