| Realism Sculpture |
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Zimbabwe Realistic sculpture breathes; animated by way of life-like detail and the artists’ skilful mark. The subtractive measures of stone sculpting are heightened by the hardness of these artist’ favoured medium, Verdite. Read more...
Click for larger version, then mouse over to see NEXT or PREV buttons to navigate through images. Zimbabwe Verdite is a very complex and ancient stone. Loosely classified as a semi-precious stone, it is found only in limited quantities in one mine in the world. It is often intermixed with ruby corundum, the next hardest mineral to diamonds. The pink hues of the ruby, along with the greens and browns of the verdite enhance the intrinsic sculptural qualities of the highly skilled artists producing truly magnificent realistic busts. Each bust is revealed after careful and painstaking cuts into the stone. At any moment a fracture could spell the end. At the heart if each piece of choice stone is a personality unto itself. Often it is a bust of a charismatic Shona or Ndbele tribes person, adorned in elaborate head dress their costumes matched only by the twinkle of the eyes. So fine is the work of these artists that they are known amongst their peers as the “fine artists” and some are referred to internationally as Master Carvers. Their classical approach to contemporary art making is attainable to few and matched only with the patience of a fine craftsman. |
