Description
Artist: Frederick Hart
Title: Exaltation
Medium: Lucite
Year: 1998
Size: 22 1/2” high
Edition: 350 (Numbered), 60 AP (Roman Numeraled)
Inscription: Signed, numbered, and dated on bottom
Condition: Museum Quality
Frederick Hart often uses spiritual themes in his work, and his "Exaltation" sculpture is a prime example. The figure's hopeful posture and expression send a strong message of joy and rapture. The spiritual aspects of the work are augmented by the choice of lucite as the medium, which lends an illuminated and otherworldly quality to the overall composition. The immense attention to detail and extremely life-like finish makes it apparent why Frederick Hart is considered one of the world's foremost figurative artists.
The figure featured in Frederick Hart’s “Songs of Grace: Innocence” has a hopeful, optimistic expression that perfectly conveys the depth and complexity contained within the work’s name. The spiritual nature of this Hart sculpture is aided by the choice of lucite as a medium, which creates an lit-from-within, ethereal feeling. The modern lucite nicely juxtaposes the traditional figurative form of Hart’s work, allowing it to look at home in any setting. Frederik Hart's "Songs of Grace: Innocence” Lucite sculpture is signed, dated, and numbered on the bottom and comes with a certificate of authenticity from Modern Artifact. The piece comes in its original packing from Frederick Hart Studios. The piece is signed, dated, and numbered on the bottom and comes with a certificate of authenticity from Modern Artifact.
As one of America’s greatest representational artists, Frederick Hart left a lasting and unique mark in the world of modern sculpture. Born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1943, he studied at the University of South Carolina and after protesting alongside black students during the Civil rights movement, he moved to Washington D.C. to continue his studies at the Corcoran School of Art. Fascinated with the human figure and the classical approach, he started developing his career in 1966 as a stone carver apprentice at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. Leaving the Cathedral in 1971, Hart started his own studio practice but had little success in the first years. In 1974, he was awarded the project by the Cathedral to create a contemporary interpretation of The Creation, an event that would change his life. Soon, Hart’s career took a turn for the better and in the upcoming decades, he rose to national prominence, becoming a government art advisor in 1985 and receiving the prestigious Henry Hering Award from the National Sculpture Society in 1987.
Best known for his architectural public sculpture work, Frederick Hart remained loyal to the figurative art, speaking very critically of abstract and similar art movements. He was the voice of moral responsibility among artists and the propagator of the classical aesthetic notions in art, representing the group of like-minded artists called “The Centerists”. "My work isn't art for art's sake, it's about life. I have no patience with obscure or unintelligible art - I want to be understood," he used to say, alluding to the higher aspirations and clear message his art delivered. Frederick Hart’s works are celebrated for their beauty and flawless execution, always in movement, layered with emotion, often depicting a form of religious trance or heightened state of awareness. With strong religious undertones, they can be seen as universal allegories, so rare, yet necessary in contemporary life and art.
Despite his traditional views on the artistic substance, Hart was a pioneer in the use of transparent acrylic resin in the creation of figurative sculptures. He patented a process of embedding one sculpture inside another, an innovative method that was not characteristic for religious (or other) sculpture until that time.
Hart died on August 13, 1999, in Baltimore, Maryland.