Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Self-Portrait with Sculpture
John De Andrea American
Not on view
While recognizable as a modern iteration of the Pygmalion myth, this female sculpture is animated less by the sculptor’s apparent desire than by the illusionistic application of layers of paint, gradually suffusing her with life color. The internalized gaze of the artist/sculptor is undistracted beyond the nude presence of the female figure. In place of an erotic charge between the two figures, the Galatea-like model sits expectantly for the artist to complete his task, while De Andrea acknowledges the primacy of skin pigment in enlivening the figure through the presence of loaded brushes in his hand.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.