The Americas

The Americas

The K'alyaan Totem Pole of the TlingitKiks.ádi Clan, erected at Sitka National Historical Park to commemorate the lives lost in the 1804 Battle of Sitka.

See also: Sculpture of the United States, Pre-Columbian art, Northwest Coast art, and Inuit art

Sculpture in what is now Latin America developed in two separate and distinct areas, Mesoamericain the north and Peru in the south. In both areas, sculpture was initially of stone, and later ofterracotta and metal as the civilizations in these areas became more technologically proficient. The Mesoamerican region produced more monumental sculpture, from the massive block-like works of the Olmec and Toltec cultures, to the superb low reliefs that characterize the Mayan and Azteccultures. In the Andean region, sculptures were typically small, but often show superb skill.

In North America, wood was sculpted for totem poles, masks, utensils, War canoes and a variety of other uses, with distinct variation between different cultures and regions. The most developed styles are those of the Pacific Northwest Coast, where a group of elaborate and highly-stylized formal styles developed forming the basis of a vibrant tradition that is in a renaissance today (see Bill Reid) and has moved into other mediums such as silver, gold and modern materials. The introduction of metal tools introduced new carving techniques, including the use of a black type of argillite, also called black slate, which is exclusive for use by artists of the Haida people.

Miniature totem pole in black argillite, carver unknown, UBC Museum of Anthropology collection

In addition to the famous totem poles, painted and carvedhouse fronts were complemented by carved posts inside and out, as well as mortuary figures and other items. Among the Inuit of the far north, traditional carving styles in ivory and soapstone have been expanded through the use of modern power tools into new directions for Inuit culture which, like the art of the Northwest Coast, is highly prized by art collectors for its plastic forms and innovative interpretation of figure and story.

The habitant-carved altar of Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)

The arrival of European Catholic culture readily adapted local skills to the prevailing Baroque style, producing enormously elaborate retablos and other mostly church sculptures in a variety of hybrid styles. The most famous of such examples in Canada is the altar area of the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, Quebec, which was carved by peasant habitant labourers. Later, artists trained in the Western academic tradition followed European styles until in the late nineteenth century they began to draw again on indigenous influences, notably in the Mexican baroque grotesque style known asChurrigueresque. Aboriginal peoples also adapted church sculpture in variations on Carpenter Gothic; one famous example is the Church of the Holy Cross inSkookumchuck Hot Springs, British Columbia.

Frederic Remington, The Bronco Buster, limited edition #17 of 20, 1909.

The history of sculpture in the United States after Europeans' arrival reflects the country's 18th-century foundation in Roman republican civic values and Protestant Christianity. Compared to areas colonized by the Spanish, sculpture got off to an extremely slow start in the British colonies, with next to no place in churches, and was only given impetus by the need to assert nationality after independence. American sculpture of the mid- to late-19th century was often classical, often romantic, but showed a bent for a dramatic, narrative, almost journalistic realism. Public buildings during the last quarter of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century often provided an architectural setting for sculpture, especially in relief. By the 1950s, traditional sculpture education would almost be completely replaced by a Bauhaus-influenced concern for abstract design.Minimalist sculpture replaced the figure in public settings and architects almost completely stopped using sculpture in or on their designs. Modern sculptors (21st century) use both classical and abstract inspired designs. Beginning in the 1980s, there was a swing back toward figurative public sculpture; by 2000, many of the new public pieces in the United States were figurative in design