The Nature of Obsession – Grounds for Sculpture, H…
A Reason to Smile – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilto…
Guarding La Gioconda – Grounds for Sculpture, Hami…
Behind the Frame – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
Olympia, Take 1 – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
Olympia, Take 2 – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
Olympia, Take 3 – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
Olympia, Take 4 – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
Olympia Outdoors – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
Monumental Marilyn – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilt…
Unconditional Surrender – Grounds for Sculpture, H…
Generation Bridge – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilto…
King Lear – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Townsh…
The Hero – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Townshi…
Time Out – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Townshi…
Listening to the Trees – Grounds for Sculpture, Ha…
"Geometry of the Cosmos" – Grounds for Sculpture,…
Red Groom's "Henry Moore in a Sheep Meadow" – Grou…
Uninvited Advice, #1 – Grounds for Sculpture, Hami…
Uninvited Advice, #2 – Grounds for Sculpture, Hami…
"Alexandra of Middle Patent Farm" – Grounds for Sc…
"Crack the Whip" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
Eight of the Muses – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilt…
"Between Appointments" – Grounds for Sculpture, Ha…
"Between Appointments" – Grounds for Sculpture, Ha…
"Dorion" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Townshi…
"Transduction-Hamilton" – Grounds for Sculpture, H…
"The Three Fates" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilto…
Inside the Witches' Cauldron – Grounds for Sculptu…
"Crossing Paths" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
"No, Mommy That One" #1 – Grounds for Sculpture, H…
"No, Mommy That One" #2 – Grounds for Sculpture, H…
"Sidewalk Concert" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilt…
"Catnap" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Townshi…
"Life at a Proper Distance" – Grounds for Sculptur…
"Loquacious Three" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilt…
"Dana" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township,…
"Lunch Break" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton To…
"Lakeside Table #1" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamil…
Nature Imitating Art – Grounds for Sculpture, Hami…
A Rocky Start to Lunch – Grounds for Sculpture, Ha…
"Sailing the Seine" Take 1 – Grounds for Sculpture…
"Sailing the Seine" Take 2 – Grounds for Sculpture…
The Luncheon of the Boating Party – Grounds for Sc…
Unrequited Love (Amour non réciproque) – Grounds f…
Personal Space – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton T…
Interface – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Townsh…
Longing – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township…
Quel scandale! – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton T…
Man to Man – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Towns…
"Pondering the Benefits of Exercise" (A Case of th…
"Were You Invited?" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamil…
"Employee Shower" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilto…
"The Pause" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Town…
"Leucantha" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Town…
"Summertime Lady" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilto…
"There, Now You Can Grow" – Grounds for Sculpture,…
Monet's Bridge – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton T…
"Inner World, Outer World" – Grounds for Sculpture…
Reading The Times (of Trenton) – Grounds for Sculp…
"A Day Off" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Town…
"Part of Nature" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
"On Poppied Hill" – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilto…
In Case You Were Wondering … – Grounds for Sculptu…
Forever Marilyn – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton…
Double Check: The Survivor – Grounds for Sculpture…
Sunday Walk – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Town…
Not Exactly Swept Off Her Feet – Grounds for Sculp…
Oops! – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township,…
Caution: Man Contemplating Work – Grounds for Scul…
Waiting – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township…
Japanese Anemone – National Garden, United States…
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A Fair Catch – National Garden, United States Nati…
Calamondin Fruits – National Garden, United States…
"Zephirine Drouhin" Bourbon Rose – National Garden…
Echeveria Flowers – United States National Arboret…
Bonsai Privet – United States National Arboretum,…
Bonsai Japanese Maple – United States National Arb…
Bonsai Sweetgum Tree – United States National Arbo…
Bonsai American Beech – United States National Arb…
Bonsai Crab Apple Tree – United States National Ar…
Bonsai Ginkgo Tree – United States National Arbore…
Bonsai Chinese Elm – United States National Arbore…
Bonsai Japanese Black Pine – United States Nationa…
Bonsai Golden Larch – United States National Arbor…
Bonsai Crepe Myrtle – United States National Arbor…
Bonsai Buttonwood Tree – United States National Ar…
Bonsai Drummond's Red Maple – United States Nation…
Bonsai Bald Cypress – United States National Arbor…
Bonsai Trident Maple #3 – United States National A…
Bonsai Trident Maple #2 – United States National A…
Bonsai Trident Maple #1 – United States National A…
Autumn Leaf Study #4 – Cunningham Falls State Park…
Autumn Leaf Study #3 – Cunningham Falls State Park…
Autumn Leaf Study #2 – Cunningham Falls State Park…
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If Logs Were Dogs – Cunningham Falls State Park, T…
Thicket – Cunningham Falls State Park, Thurmont, M…
All Broken Up Over You – Cunningham Falls State Pa…
Cunningham Falls – Cunningham Falls State Park, Th…
The Path to the Falls – Cunningham Falls State Par…
Yesterday's Ferns – Cunningham Falls State Park, T…
Accidental Art – Cunningham Falls State Park, Thur…
Spilling Over – Cunningham Falls State Park, Thurm…
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Thinking of Archimedes – Cunningham Falls State Pa…
Autumn Jumble – Cunningham Falls State Park, Thurm…
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Froggies – Labor Day Festival, Greenbelt, Maryland
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The Girl With More Than a Pearl Earring – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township, Trenton, New Jersey
Grounds For Sculpture is a 42-acre sculpture park and museum located on the former site of the New Jersey State Fairgrounds in Hamilton Township. The grounds, which feature over 270 large scale contemporary sculptures, were founded in 1992 by John Seward Johnson II – known to all as "Seward." He desired to make contemporary sculpture accessible to people from all backgrounds.
Seward is a wealthy heir to the immense medical products fortune of Johnson & Johnson, founded by his grandfather. Seward not only produces art, but also generously supports cultural projects. Both his sculpture and his philanthropy were overshadowed for a time in the 1980’s, however, when he was entangled in one of the most notorious legal inheritance battles in America: Mr. Johnson and his five siblings challenged the will of J. Seward Johnson Sr., their father who had disinherited them. Their lawsuit was successful.
Seward has been making sculptures since the early 1970’s. Some of his work copies the iconic works of fine artists with international reputations – especially the work of the 19th century Impressionists. These sculptures invite the viewer to enter the frame of well-known paintings by bringing the details of characters and scenes off the canvas and into our three dimensional world. The life-scale figures are rendered explicitly true to the paintings since Johnson has painted the bronze faces just as an oil painter creates skin tones in a portrait; assiduously and instinctively blending layers of unrelated colors which come together to create shadow, volume and form. The statues are arranged in a montage that enables literally to enter the frame – to experience the illusion of reality, to step directly into a world that he or she has only seen but not experienced with his or her full senses.
Some critics dismiss Seward’s work as kitsch. I, for one, think his work to be great fun. I was fortunate enough to visit the Grounds for Sculpture in time to see an show of over 150 of Seward’s works depicting his 50-year career. The retrospective exhibition was scheduled to run from May 4 to September 21, 2014 but due to overwhelming popularity, it was extended through July 2015.
Inspired by the masterpiece in oil by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Seward Johnson wished to capture not only the evanescence of the model, but also the painter’s seeming enchantment with the girl. Sculptor Johnson notes, "I believe Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring attained its iconic value because the artist was infatuated with his subject, and that obsession is so evident. I wanted to honor his passion for her."
Seward is a wealthy heir to the immense medical products fortune of Johnson & Johnson, founded by his grandfather. Seward not only produces art, but also generously supports cultural projects. Both his sculpture and his philanthropy were overshadowed for a time in the 1980’s, however, when he was entangled in one of the most notorious legal inheritance battles in America: Mr. Johnson and his five siblings challenged the will of J. Seward Johnson Sr., their father who had disinherited them. Their lawsuit was successful.
Seward has been making sculptures since the early 1970’s. Some of his work copies the iconic works of fine artists with international reputations – especially the work of the 19th century Impressionists. These sculptures invite the viewer to enter the frame of well-known paintings by bringing the details of characters and scenes off the canvas and into our three dimensional world. The life-scale figures are rendered explicitly true to the paintings since Johnson has painted the bronze faces just as an oil painter creates skin tones in a portrait; assiduously and instinctively blending layers of unrelated colors which come together to create shadow, volume and form. The statues are arranged in a montage that enables literally to enter the frame – to experience the illusion of reality, to step directly into a world that he or she has only seen but not experienced with his or her full senses.
Some critics dismiss Seward’s work as kitsch. I, for one, think his work to be great fun. I was fortunate enough to visit the Grounds for Sculpture in time to see an show of over 150 of Seward’s works depicting his 50-year career. The retrospective exhibition was scheduled to run from May 4 to September 21, 2014 but due to overwhelming popularity, it was extended through July 2015.
Inspired by the masterpiece in oil by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Seward Johnson wished to capture not only the evanescence of the model, but also the painter’s seeming enchantment with the girl. Sculptor Johnson notes, "I believe Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring attained its iconic value because the artist was infatuated with his subject, and that obsession is so evident. I wanted to honor his passion for her."
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