Paard 1923 - 1925

This bronze sculpture by Saar de Swart captures a figure, perhaps a monk, seemingly caught in a moment of reflection, his form rising up. The surface is alive with texture, marks left by the artist's hand as she built up the form. You can almost feel the clay being pushed and prodded, each touch contributing to the figure's presence. The patina, that kind of greenish-brown tone, gives it this sense of age and timelessness, but at the same time that texture feels really immediate and fresh. Looking closer, see how the folds of the robes seem to cascade down, creating these little valleys and peaks of light and shadow? It’s in these details, these subtle gestures in the material, that the sculpture really comes to life. There is a really strong affinity with the work of Ernst Barlach, and his approach to creating figurative forms with a sense of weight and depth. The real beauty is in the ambiguity.