Masters of Modern Sculpture

The following films from the acclaimed series Masters of Modern Sculpture (Blackwood Films) will be available on video for individual viewer access at a special viewing station set up in our Reading Room. Each film lasts approximately one hour.

Part One: The Pioneers

Presenting Rodin, Degas, Rosso, Maillol, Lehmbruck, Brancusi, Epstein, Laurens and others demonstrates how, in just over two decades, the first modern sculptors undermined centuries of sculptural conventions.

Part Two: Beyond Cubism

Presenting Tatlin, Gabo, Pevsner, Duchamp, Man Ray, Miro, Arp, Calder, Giacometti, Beuys, Caro and others, historical footage captures the use of new materials such as wires and plastics, as sculptors move beyond cubism into Dada and minimalism.

Part Three: The New World

This film surveys later 20th-century American sculpture and sculptural theory from formalism to environmentalism, including David Smith's welded constructions, Claes Oldenburg's giant "pop"-oriented sculptures, Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, and more.