Sculptor at Work on a Colossal Statue

Former Attribution Formerly attributed to Johann Tobias Sergel Swedish

mid-18th–18th century

Not on view

This image of an artist carving a work that dwarfs him while a trumpeter plays is one of numerous autobiographical drawings the Swedish sculptor Ehrensvärd made throughout his career that reveal both the convivial and the melancholy sides of his personality. While it encapsulates the Piranesi-esque idea of modern man overwhelmed by the magnitude of the monuments of antiquity, Ehrensvärd's drawing is less histrionic in tone.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

References

Title: Sculptor at Work on a Colossal Statue
Artist: Carl August Ehrensvärd (Swedish, 1745–1800)
Former Attribution: Formerly attributed to Johann Tobias Sergel (Swedish, Stockholm 1740–1814 Stockholm)
Date: mid-18th–18th century
Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, white gouache, on gray paper.
Dimensions: 16 7/16 x 10 1/2 in. (41.7 x 26.7 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Jean-Luc Baroni and Colnaghi, in honor of Jacob Bean, 1992
Object Number: 1992.229.1
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Carl August Ehrensvärd

By Johann Tobias Sergel

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A Storm at Sea with a Large Ship and a Small Boat with Two Figures, Carl August Ehrensvärd Swedish, Pen and black ink — A Storm at Sea with a Large Ship and a Small Boat with Two Figures
Carl August Ehrensvärd
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Three Portraits in Profile

Carl August Ehrensvärd

1765–1800

Evening Sky (Båstad), Nils Kreuger Swedish, Fabricated black crayon (binder enriched, probably with wax), watercolor washes in varied hues, touches of blue pastel; signed in watercolor; on thick, manila colored, machine-made wove paper — Evening Sky (Båstad)
Nils Kreuger
1907

Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland, Thomas Girtin British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) — Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland
Thomas Girtin
1796–97

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