Veil of Light Lucite Acrylic Sold Out Sculpture, 17k Retail 1987

Artist: Frederick Hart
Title: VEIL OF LIGHT (H.64)
Year: 1988
Medium: clear acrylic resin sculpture, signed, numbered 290/350,
Size: height 22".
Illustrated in Frederick Hart Sculptor, published by Hudson Hills Press, page 130. Title Frederick Hart Veil of Light Lucite Acrylic Sold Out Sculpture 17k Retail 1987 Media : Sculpture, Lucite™

Remaining faithful to figurative art, the sculptor Frederick Hart developed a new epistemology based upon beauty, transcendence, virtue, and truth. Rejecting the idea of art for art’s sake, he created compelling works that concerned with life.

In a search for a material that would reflect his exploration of being and non-being started with the acclaimed Cathedral work, Hart started experimenting with Lucite, also known as acrylic or acrylic glass. Following the years of dedicated trial and error, the artist perfected the new medium, becoming the first sculptor to create figurative work from it.

Created in 1987, the work “Veil of Light” is characterized by an other-worldly appearance. Paying tribute to the charm and grace of the female body, the piece is a fine example of the technique Hart described as “sculpting with light”. Arguably among the most intriguing artworks he has ever created, it is executed in vivid detail, complete with electrifying and alluring patina. In this piece, Hart’s concern with creating art that must touch our lives, our fears, and cares comes to the fore. Seeking guidance from timeless elements in the past, Hart created a work of astounding elegance that explores and celebrates the human being and the universe.

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About Frederick Hart

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.