Sculptuur Les Heures door Jean-Marie Bonnassieux before 1878

Curator: This is Sculptuur Les Heures, by Jean-Marie Bonnassieux, created before 1878. It translates to The Hours, or time itself. Editor: My immediate impression is just how tactile the artist has made marble seem; those draped figures look like they could almost slip from their poses. Curator: The work certainly captures the sensibilities of the time, reflecting Academic art ideals of beauty and historical themes. Its original home, the Fountain of the Hours in Lyon, amplified its public impact. It stood for something civic. Editor: The classical influences are palpable; just look at the nudes. However, I'm struck by the sheer labor invested here. Think of the quarries, the tools used; we need to appreciate the physicality inherent in its crafting. Curator: True, its construction reveals 19th-century artistic and social values. A civic sculpture like this bolstered a sense of historical continuity and cultural refinement. There's political significance in these aesthetics, no? Editor: I'd like to emphasize the materiality itself: marble's transformation by laborers into symbol-laden objects; it represents immense resource extraction. Even its eventual location in a public fountain affects one’s perspective; time flowing by as literal water passes through its sculptural forms! Curator: Absolutely, and the nude figures raise the complex questions of social roles. Do they simply reinforce classicised beauty ideals or challenge the accepted public decorum? Either way, this art was always engaged within power relations. Editor: By understanding how and why it was produced and circulated in 1878 we are acknowledging historical value systems, right alongside their impact in real human hours invested, marble, resources drawn, transformed... Curator: Indeed. Acknowledging context enriches the modern view. Editor: For sure. Thinking of its processes, time and social value really shifted my perspective here!