Sculpture Off the Pedestal: Monuments and Their Makers Paperback – Illustrated, August 17, 2010

"Art is a way to stave off the chaotic, to escape the terribleness of existence," Nevelson said. "You can make the greatest work of art, and if it is not in your time, who cares? It's not even valid...the artist is a mirror of his time." As an art critic, Joan Altabe is as independent as sculptor Louise Nevelson in her commitment to the diversity of art history. In her latest book, In Sculpture Off The Pedestal, Altabe has chosen twenty-five sculptors who questioned the art of their time and pursued a new direction. Her choices reveal a direct line of innovation from the discovery of linear perspective by Filippo Brunelleschi during the Renaissance to the eclectic art scene of today. Similar in format to her first book in the paperback series, Art Behind the Scenes, the brief text on each artist is based on the sculptor's work and place in history. Altabe brings these master sculptors to life for readers "off the pedestal" to explore personal revelations and the spirited action in their lives. Disgruntled sculptors smash their work in front of collectors, have confrontations with their sitters during portrait commissions, and engage in love affairs with their models Also she focuses on the drama in the work such as Brunelleschi's Abraham driving the knife blade toward his son Isaac with such forceful intent that an angel must grab his wrists to stop him. Judith, the Biblical heroine portrayed by Donatello is described as "standing over the soused, limp body of the general, one hand raised with sword, the other holding him by the hair and one foot on his groin."Modern sculptors who have challenged the establishment are also highlighted. There is a perverse humor in the porcelain urinal titled Fountain that Marcel DuChamp exhibited in 1917 at the Society of Independent Artists in New York City. When it was refused he explained that he took "an ordinary article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view--created a new thought for that object."Robert Rauschenberg also shocked viewers in the late 1950s by exhibiting a stuffed Aragon goat with an old tire around its middle, while in the 1960s Marisol Escobar carved women imprisoned in wooden blocks as tableaus of political and social issues.Altabe's book is a good read as well as an historical document. The authenticity of motivations is derived from her extensive research through letters, recollections of contemporaries, and the musings of art historians from Vasari to Sister Wendy.The author is a former art teacher in New York City schools and an award-winning art and architecture critic. She is included in Who's Who in American Art, and currently writes for the St. Petersburg Examiner on the west coast of Florida.Marcia Corbino, a writer, art critic and curator, is a co-author of A History of Visual Art in Sarasota. She received an Art Critics Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics.

SCULPTORS FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO MODERN TIMESJOAN ALTABE has written an insightful book covering 25 sculptors from early Renaissance to Modern Times. She writes about each of their works followed by a fascinating piece she calls "Off the Pedestal". This may include their opinion of other artists both pro and con, explanations about their own work, their process in approaching their w their philosophy about what art is and what makes for art. We learn from their own words about each artist, how he/she (yes several women sculptors are included) thinks and feels. Most readers will find as I did these sections a fascinating and unique approach taken in this fine book. Here are just a few examples of the interesting ideas I discovered:MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI who did not usually sign his work overheard his "Pieta" described as the "work of Gobo from Milan" and reacted by carving his name across Mary's chest.JACQUES LIPCHITZ feels "artists are obviously influenced in some degree by one another" He gives as example "one day JUAN GRIS saw a bunch of grapes in a painting by PICASS0. The next day grapes were in a bowl by GRIS, the day after the bowl appeared in a painting by PICASSO".LOUISE NEVELSON "Illusion permits anything, reality stops everything."JOHN CHAMBERLAIN defines art as a "peculiar madness in which you use means that are recognizable to other people to say something they have not yet heard." He uses objects found in the street or anywhere he happens to see them for his pieces of sculpture which does not proclaim itself as art. Once a city garbage truck came across a piece of his and hauled it away.Pick up a copy of this slim book and discover your own favorite passages.Eva T. Slane

I haven't finished reading the whole book and am already inspired to give a shout out to readers who would like to enrich their knowledge about the art of sculpture and enjoy Altabe's clean, smart writing.First of all, there are not a lot of books out there focusing on sculpture with sensitivity and understanding. "The Language of Sculpture," by William Tucker is the only one that comes to mind in recent years, and it was published in 1974. So thank you, Joan Altabe, for sharing your knowledge and interesting comparisons of sculptors dating from the Renaissance through Modernism. The often quoted, "Sculpture is something you back into while looking at a painting," (attributed to Ad Reinhardt) is still a prevalent attitude towards sculpture, and "Sculpture Off the Pedestal" goes deep into the meaning of work by 25 sculptors, not all of whom are the usual suspects.I am a sculptor (over three decades now) and teach sculpture, which I mention only to say that I've been intensely looking at sculpture from all periods and places for a very long time. I was heartened to see Jacob Epstein on the "list," as well as Archipenko, Marisol, and Hesse.Treat yourself to this homage to sculpture!

"Joan Altabe has added a fourth dimension to the three-dimensions of sculpture with an absorbing collection of information and stories about 25 master artists in Sculpture: Off the Pedestal. Not only isher research impressive, but she uses it to bring insight and understanding to her subjects and their artistic and historical context. Ms. Altabe goes beyond the biographic to trace how sculptors moved past the "seeable" to what you think and feel." She explains just enough to pique the readers' curiosity to learn more.This book is intelligent and intriguing - a great guide for the noviceor the aficionado.Nancy RoucherArts Education Consultant

"Sculpture Off the Pedestal: Monuments and Their Makers" is bothinformative and fun to read. The writing is clear and journalistic with nowasted words. It's like sitting down to a lecture from a favorite collegeprofessor.Art LevyAssociate EditorFlorida Trend Magazine