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'Incomplete' Art
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Heather
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Aug 03, 2019 02:01PM
"Is a broken or incomplete work of art frustrating to look at or does its “imperfect” state make it more exciting"?
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I have this question from the Met and I’m not really sure what it’s referring to. Does anyone know of an ‘incomplete’ piece of art? I can think of maybe some of da Vinci’s drawings...But does anyone have any examples they can give?
Maybe the Venus of Milo is an example of what they mean?
Venus de Milo
That’s a great example, Dirk! I didn’t think of that one. And definitely incomplete. This on has always been incomplete, of course, it’s like it almost was made that way. Now it’s supposed to be that way in my eyes. I wouldn’t want to see it whole again. I’m glad they didn’t reinvent the missing parts. I love the age and classic look it has, the history it brings with it. I know that’s not what the original sculptor intended but this is how we know her now and she’s all beauty!
Good one, thank you!
Treaty of Paris
Benjamin West
1783
Benjamin West's painting of the delegates to the Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolutionary War. Out of shame for their country's defeat, the British delegates refused to pose and so the portrait was never finished.
Dickens' Dream
Robert William Buss
1870
Dickens' Dream, by Robert William Buss, begun on the death of Charles Dickens in 1870, and incomplete at the time of the painter's death in 1875.
Non finitoNon finito is a sculpting technique meaning that the work is unfinished. Italian in origin, it literally means "not finished". Non finito sculptures appear unfinished because the artist only sculpts part of the block, the figure sometimes appearing to be stuck within the block of material. It was pioneered by Donatello during the Renaissance and was used by Michelangelo as well as numerous other artists.
The philosophic origins of non finito practice come from antiquity and the theories of Plato. Platonic philosophy states that any work of art, or otherwise, never completely resembles its heavenly counterpart. The act of leaving a work unfinished is sometimes an homage to this. In the case of the ancient Romans, artists would sign their work with the verb "Faciebat" (third-person singular imperfect active indicative of faciō). This verb, following their name, would identify them as the artist, but the work as unfinished (non finito). Artists signed their work in this manner even if the work had been refined to the highest degree, as when Michelangelo famously signed his Roman Pieta.
La Pensee
Auguste Rodin
1895
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_finito
Seeing the Rodin made me think of Michelangelo's unfinished Slaves which you can see when walking towards the statue of David:http://www.accademia.org/explore-muse...
Dirk wrote: "Maybe the Venus of Milo is an example of what they mean?Venus de Milo"
Venus de Milo
Was noted for her charms
Strictly between us
You’re cuter than Venus
And what’s more you have arms.
Lyrics by Leo Robin
