Be a Sculpture Critic

In Be a Sculpture Critic section, learn how to critique sculptures by learning the elements of design and principles of design. Also learn how to compare and contrast sculptures.

After you have learned how to critique, select a sculpture and record your answers to the Write About It questions in a notebook or a digital document. Use the Sculpture Word Bank to help with your responses.

Google Drive/Classroom Users: You can go under File and select "Make a Copy" or "Print" to access the Artopia Sculpture - Write About It worksheet.

Google Docs Worksheet

Compare And Contrast Two Sculptures | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Compare and Contrast Frederic Remington and Deborah Butterfield are known for their sculptures of horses. These two artworks, Untitled (#3-85) by Deborah Butterfield and The Bronco Buster by Frederic...

Elements of Design: Isamu Noguchi: Kouros | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Learn how to take a closer look at a sculpture by applying the elements of design to the Kouros by Isamu Noguchi. Line: Line is an important element in Noguchi’s Kouros. Although it is a three-...

Principles of Design: Isamu Noguchi: Kouros | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Learn how to take a closer look at a sculpture by applying the principles of design to the Kouros by Isamu Noguchi. Balance: Technically, Kouros is perfectly balanced. All the pieces fit together in...

Assemblage - Bird | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Alexander Calder A Closer Look Artists often use humor. Bird by Alexander Calder is one example. Calder made a lot of humorous artworks including a film of his miniature circus, the Cirque Calder, in...

Assemblage - Coke Bottle | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Howard Finster A Closer Look Howard Finster liked to decorate objects with paintings of things that were familiar to him. This piece is a prefabricated bottle that he has painted. It has a cylindrical...

Assemblage - Cubi XII | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

David Smith A Closer Look Cubi XII has straight lines and angles, making it an excellent example of geometric three-dimensional form. It balances without falling over even though the form is not the...

Assemblage - Untitled #857 | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Petah Coyne A Closer Look Untitled #857 is heavily textured. The ribbons covered with wax and little white birds make the work look like a lighted chandelier hanging from the ceiling. How does this...

Assemblage - Untitled (3-85) | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Deborah Butterfield A Closer Look If you look at Untitled (3-85) from a distance you might think it's a real horse. When an artist is able to use the principle of design balance, as Deborah...

Carving - Harlow Family Group | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Henry Moore A Closer Look Henry Moore’s work is organic, meaning that it flows and has a lot of curvy lines. Look at the outline of this sculpture. See how the spaces between and around the sculpture...

Carving - Kouros | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Isamu Noguchi A Closer Look Do you think this sculpture could be considered stylized? Do you notice a resemblance between it and another in our collection? Noguchi simplified the parts of the body and...

Carving - Moses (after Michelangelo) | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Edmonia Lewis A Closer Look We often hear that copying is wrong, but a good way to study techniques of art is to imitate the works of other artists. 400 years after Michelangelo, Edmonia Lewis lived...

Carving - Peplos Kore (Peplophoros) | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Anonymous A Closer Look Artworks made during a particular time and place often look similar to one another. We call them "stylized." Many artworks from the Archaic Period of ancient Greece resemble...

Carving - Slave Called Atlas | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Michelangelo A Closer Look Do you think this sculpture by Michelangelo is finished...or is the artist making a statement about slavery? What do you think he would be trying to say? There is a strong...

Casting - Monument to Balzac | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Auguste Rodin A Closer Look What expression has Auguste Rodin given his Monument to Balzac? What does it tell you about the writer? Rodin was an Impressionist, interested in how light affected an...

Casting - Queenie II | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Duane Hanson A Closer Look Queenie II was in an exhibit once at the Nevada Museum of Art. The night before the show opened a false fire alarm went off. When the firefighters arrived they were...

Casting - Reversed Double Helix | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Takashi Murakami A Closer Look The double helix is the structure of the DNA molecule, a twisted ladder-like stack of building blocks called nucleotides. Our DNA makes us who we are. Why do you think...

Casting - Spider | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Louise Bourgeois A Closer Look Line is one of the main elements of design in Spider. Look how the lines lead up from the ground to the body of the spider. This is such a simple sculpture, yet its...

Casting - The Bronco Buster | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Frederic Remington A Closer Look Look at the movement in The Bronco Buster. It seems to jump right out of the metal cast. The horse rears up on its hind legs, pushing the cowboy into the air...

Earthworks - Spiral Jetty | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Robert Smithson A Closer Look The movement of Spiral Jetty takes off from the shoreline to the center of the spiral. Smithson used black rock and earth to make this piece. The consistency of the...

Ephemeral Art - Icicle Star | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Andy Goldsworthy A Closer Look Look at the beautiful form Andy Goldsworthy has created using icicles. What an unusual material! It looks just like its name, Icicle Star. Each icicle is a straight line...

Installation Art - Lap Pool | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Dale Chihuly A Closer Look Can you imagine swimming in a lighted sculpture of colorful glass? Look at the richness of the colors as the swimmer floats over the glass forms. It's as though she is at...

Modeling - Bust of Warrior | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Anonymous A Closer Look What elements of design do you think about when you look at Bust of a Warrior? What shapes do you see? Can you see how the artist has turned flat shapes into forms? The two...

Modeling - Head, Falasha Artist, Axum Ethiopia | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Anonymous A Closer Look You might wonder what this man is thinking. His expression is ambiguous. Does he seems sad, worried, or do his lips indicate some sort of pleasurable thought? Only the artist...

Modeling - Lola | Artopia

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Grades: 6 7 8

Georgia Blizzard A Closer Look Form is a primary consideration in Georgia Blizzard's ceramic artwork Lola. Look at the rounded figure of this woman. Every feature of her body is voluminous. While the...