Make Your Walls Pop with Wall Sculptures

Posted on 26. Apr, 2010 by amauto in Uncategorized

I saw a friend’s house not too long ago and, although I don’t usually notice, I became fascinated with his furnishings. The style was something he described as steam punk, a type of futuristic Victorian, which seemed as if it arrived right from Jules Verne, a sort of Captain Nemo meets Robur the Conqueror, all shimmering brass, leather, futuristic technology, and clockwork. My friend’s version was much more ‘Indiana Jones’, with his steamer trunk table, collection of intriguing artifacts, statues and interesting ancient wall reliefs.  It went together with his house, originally constructed in the 1920’s and created a warm, interesting inside nicely suited to his huge collection of books.

My house is instead more modern, so when I pondered options for furnishing my living room (something I was advised was ‘up to me’) I rejected the steam punk idea. While I am no interior designer I can see that a certain harmony between interior and exterior is useful. Although contemporary houses are spacious they may be really dull, then i realized this gave me a lot more range to put my personality on the room, and that thought gave me the idea to make use of wall art and wall sculptures to give my room some individuality, but what would work best?

Old Greek structures weren’t what we understand today. Many people recognize that they were stunning structures that stood, oftentimes for centuries, before suffering damage we see now, but did you  realize that they were multi-colored?  You probably would not think so to look at the remains in a museum. I used to take my lunch while admiring the huge Assyrians gateways within the British Museum in London,  just near room 18, the home of the ‘Elgin marbles’. These famous sculptures were removed from the Parthenon in the early years of the 19th century by the Earl of Elgin,  and the Greek government is still seeking to get them back.  The sculptures tend to be stark, white and very beautiful, precisely what we think of when we consider ‘classical art’ but what might the ancients have thought of these? Euripides give us a clue in his play ‘Helen of Troy’ when Helen says ‘If only I could shed my beauty and assume an uglier aspect, the way you wipe paint off a statue’. Those stunning marble statues in their sparkling white were once vivid and multi-colored. So totally different from what we observe today and connect with the ancient world, it’s really difficult to picture.

We all view the ancient gods as abstract, consequently historical wall sculptures like Poseidon in his chariot are ‘classical’ and absolutely at home in a modern room. It was only at the Renaissance that, finding classical statues removed of their color by time, the sculptors thought they had originally been white marble, and set out to emulate them.   In antiquity the Greeks believed in living breathing Gods;their statues were painted brightly to reflect that. Although we admire the awesome craftsmanship of the Parthenon sculptures the ancients adored their realistic quality so much so it had been said that at certain times during the day it was like the gods in their friezes actually moved. The statues and painting methods had been made to come together and boost the three dimensional quality of the stone, bringing the subject to life. Archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann is working hard to analyze ancient statues and create authentic reproductions. These, complete with intricate paint techniques and colors are as close as it can be to those found in ancient times and the results are fascinating; the ancient world will never seem the same again.

So what should I do? I could choose traditional Greek wall art and create a modern room, making my personal choice on the basis of meaning. Hercules wrestling the lion could remind me that even if my todo list is often a tad long, it isn’t the Labours of Hercules, while Dionysus on a donkey would remind me the point of work is to pay for the fun in the future. As an inhabitant of the ” new world ” I could decide on Mayan wall reliefs, but I believe my selection could be more ancient still. From Ramses who drove out the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh, to the idea of Maat,  goddess of justice and order, the wall sculptures from the Ancient Egyptians hold an endless captivation. We’re much more familiar with coloration in relation to Egypt, and hence observe these more as they really were, vivid and remarkable in the desert sunlight.

For my Bedroom the main options are obvious; Thoth, the god of writing and wisdom, to keep me right always!

Tags: egyptian wall art, greek wall art, interior design, modern art, wall art, wall reliefs, wall sculpture, wall sculptures