…studies in sculpture and abstraction, spirits and souls…
Studies of Chauncey Bradley Ives’s Undine Receiving Her Soul, 1861.
The description reads:
‘This sculpture appears remarkably different when viewed from opposing sides. The front presents Undine’s face and pose. From behind, the sculpture appears to be a stunning, nearly abstract study in rippling fabric, which streams down her back, gathers fluidly at the waist, and pools on the ground.’
‘Undine was a mythological water spirit who tricked a mortal into marrying her in order to gain a soul. Chauncey Bradley Ives, one of the American sculptors working in Rome, depicted Undine according to a passage in a popular literary account: “But an appearance, from the opening of the fountain…rose like a white column of water; at first they imagined it to be a spouting fountain…until they perceived the form to be a pale female, veiled in white.’
She does indeed catch the eye captivate the imagination as if arriving from a deep pool of the mind….
All images found at SLAM, the Saint Louis Art Museum.
A Prayer Like Gravity 
I would love to see this sculpture in person. It just stirs the imagination. Love the photos, man. The swirls and wrinkles, the shadows and the light, the sheer beauty of it.
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Thank you, my friend. Would love for you to see it. Our museum is a wonder. We are truly lucky to have such a world-class institute in our little town. So many great pieces. Would love to show it to you….we’d get lost for hours….I still do….well….I did….and I will again….I miss it…..
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Beautiful! Amazing how something so soft, sensual and flowing can be made of stone.
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Yes–to me one of the joys of sculpture–the true plasticity of the medium. And this is one of my favorites.
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