Playfull Bulls 1898

Anne Marie Carl Nielsen created this bronze sculpture of "Playful Bulls". Nielsen was a highly skilled practitioner of the traditional art of bronze casting, a process that involves creating a mold, pouring molten metal, and then carefully finishing the surface. Look closely, and you’ll see the marks of the artist's hand in the roughly modeled forms. While bronze has been used for centuries to create idealized and heroic images, here Nielsen uses the material to capture a more intimate and naturalistic scene. There’s a rawness in the depiction of these animals, their energy and physicality palpable. Nielsen's choice of bronze, with its associations of permanence and value, elevates what might otherwise be seen as a mundane subject, and challenges conventional hierarchies. It invites us to appreciate the beauty and vitality of the natural world, and to recognize the artistry inherent in the act of making.