5 Modern Sculptors Who Have Inspired Modern Wall Sculpture Art

Which sculptures should we consider as modern? Ironically, modern in the world of art, can refer to artists, artworks, and styles that have been popular during the past decade or even century. Much of today's wall art resembles contemporary styles. People may one day consider the works of these artists as classics, in the same sense that Medieval, Baroque, and Renaissance sculptors are today. Here are some of the most renowned modern sculptors:

1. Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957)
Brancusi was a Romanian sculptor who made France his home. In the 1900s, Brancusi refined sculpture as an art form. While he showed the basic beauty of sculpture, he also attached an aura of mystery to it. Brancusi attended various art schools before creating Ecorche(1902), which Bucharest's medical school still uses as a model. The works of Auguste Rodin greatly influenced Brancusi, teaching him that a force within a sculpture creates its surface. Within time, Brancusi would use a somewhat minimalist approach, attempting to represent sculptures in their most basic form.

2. Naum Gabo (1890-1977)
Born in Russia, Gabo later became an American. During World War I, Gabo lived in Norway and began developing his stereometric method of sculpting. This approach would ultimately influence some of today's wall sculpture art. Gabo's first sculptures were Cubist, and utilized the materials of celluloid and sheet metal. He would continue to use interesting materials, including plastic, wire, and glass. The goal was to create an impression of movement.

3. Ivan Mestrovic (1883-1962)
Mestrovic was a Croatian-American sculptor who once worked as a shepherd. Classic Greek Auguste Rodin sculptures greatly influenced Mestrovic's typically huge and serious works. Mestrovic often used materials such as bronze, marble, and wood. Common subjects that Mestrovic used included:
- Yugoslav history
- Yugoslav folklore
- churches
- Biblical scenes

4. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Picasso began to demonstrate his artistic skills as a young painter. Very quickly, he became renowned worldwide for his original and abundant painting. Although Picasso mainly used the medium of painting, he also used other media, such as sculptures. Other sculptures also influenced Picasso's paintings. For instance, Iberian (far southwestern Europe) sculpture contributed to the style Picasso used in his painting Portrait of Gertrude Stein (1906). African sculpture also influenced Picasso's use of Cubism.

5. Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)
Rodin's works were quite visionary and have certainly inspired some of today's wall sculpture art. The Frenchman perceived the materials of his sculptures as objects that required shaping, in order to create different effects on the surface. Rodin also perceived his sculptures as pieces of material that existed in space. He made an important trip to Italy, during 1875. There, the works of masters such as Michelangelo and Donatello amazed Rodin. Rodin's first major sculpture, The Age of Bronze was so realistic that experts wrongly believed that Rodin had used a mold of a living human!

Some of today's most lovely metal wall sculptures are based on modern sculptors. While modern is relative, the beauty that they reveal is very concrete.