Learning to Look at Sculpture

This new book from Mary Acton is a perfect companion volume to Learning to look at Paintings and Learning to look at Modern Art. Like them it is primarily about looking – and particularly about the differences in the experience of looking at three-dimensional art. Covering all periods of Western sculpture from Classical times to the present day, each chapter is broadly chronological, taking examples from different periods, while the book itself takes a thematic approach.

Important themes throughout the book include a discussion of the idea of mimesis (the imitation of the natural world) and the three dimensional presence of the sculpture, the influence of the classical tradition on Western sculpture, the three dimensional experience for the spectator, and the use of the turntable in the studio and the experience for the maker of different points of view. There will also be a consideration of the all important relationship of form and space in sculpture and its tactile qualities.

Richly illustrated with over 100 images, including photographs of three dimensional art from multiple points of view, and including examples from ancient bronzes and sarcophagi reliefs to the work of Cornelia Parker and Richard Serra, this will be the ideal companion for all those studying, or simply interested in, sculpture.

Mary Acton was Course Director of the Undergraduate Diploma and Advanced Diploma in the History of Art at Continuing Education, University of Oxford. She continues to teach at the University of Oxford and works as a freelance lecturer. She is the author of the bestselling Learning to Look at Paintings (1997, 2009) and Learning to Look at Modern Art (2004).