Richard MacDonald Leap of Faith 1/3 Life Platinum AP Bronze Sculpture

Artist: Richard MacDonald
Title: Leap of Faith
Medium: Bronze Sculpture
Size: 31" x 9 3/4" x 13 1/4"
Year: 2009
Inscription: Signed, dated, and numbered
Edition: X/4 1/3 life Platinum AP editions (numbered in roman numerals) Condition: Very good condition overall
Documentation: Includes certificate of authenticity from Richard MacDonald

Richard MacDonald has famously worked with performers, dancers, and athletes from Cirque du Soleil, the Royal Ballet, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and the American Ballet Theatre. His renowned practice of figurative and bronze sculpture captures the beauty of the human body. Through the use of the ancient lost-wax process, his bronzes embody a dedication to precision and details and capture fluid movements and moments suspended in time.

Leap of Faith showcases Viktor Kee, a renowned professional juggler and Cirque du Soleil performer doing an impossible yet graceful balance act. Kee holds a twisted pose while standing on an unbalanced cube. The dynamic form with powerful lines juxtaposes athleticism, strength, and poise. The depiction of such a complicated feat alludes to juggling life's complications. An idea furthered enforced by the blindfold present. This detail references the metaphor of going through life and its obstacles with no prior knowledge. The sculpture fully embodies a triumph over gravity, capturing a leap of faith.

Leap of Faith includes a certificate of authenticity from Richard MacDonald. The work is signed, dated, and numbered. Furthermore, the sculpture is in very good condition overall. Please note that the gallery retail price for this piece is $105,000.

About Richard MacDonald:

Devoted to exploring the human form, Richard MacDonald is often regarded as the world’s leading figurative sculptor today. This ingenious aesthete has been creating bronze sculptures with a relentless enthusiasm for over thirty years. Often described as Realism, his work is a part of the neo-figurative movement and it is greatly inspired by motion and the art of dance.

Originally, Richard MacDonald was classically trained as a painter, having graduated Cum laude from the Art Center College of Design in 1971. His career began in the world of illustration, where the artist was frequently required to illustrate sporting events, including the Olympics. After a decade in illustration, he wanted to pursue another medium and his fascination with human body brought him to sculpture.

In 1983, MacDonald officially retired as an illustrator and immersed himself into a three-dimensional creative universe. His talent helped accelerate his career as a sculptor, as the artist quickly rose to international prominence. Celebrated for its dynamism, refinement and superb quality, sculptures by Richard MacDonald were greatly sought after, while numerous prestigious commissions followed. Simultaneously, he never ceased to explore the stunning physicality and aesthetics of the human body, regularly working with live models in his studio.

Ballet was hardly a novel subject in art and Richard MacDonald does follow the footsteps of Degas and even Rodin. Still, the works of the contemporary sculptor are different, meticulously made and anatomically correct to the slightest detail, testifying to the artist’s unparalleled perfectionism. Still, they are not a literal translation of a dancer’s body, but a true artistic portrayal of a paradigmatic character or a scene, imbued with personal traits and a vast emotive spectrum radiating from every inch of the piece. MacDonald's statues are idealized images of harmony, with masterly balanced compositions, depicted the impossible postures and appearing to barely touch the ground.

As a renowned artist, Richard MacDonald worked with some of the most prominent dancers and performers in the world, notably with members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet, and most recently - Cirque du Soleil. A devout philanthropist, he was honored and awarded by great international organizations, including the United States Olympic Committee.

In the manner and with the commitment of the greatest sculptors from the history of art, Richard MacDonald continues to create sculptures impregnated with passion and energy, celebrating the supreme qualities of both the spiritual and the material body. His works are admired by connoisseurs and aficionados alike, as some of the most coveted collectibles in the world of contemporary sculpture.

Richard MacDonald was born in Pasadena, California in 1946. He keeps a studio in Monterey, California, where he is based.