Human figurative art shines at Westmoreland Museum

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There’s a reason the human figure is endlessly fascinating to artists beyond the narcissistic appeal of one’s own species. It is not stagnant nor predictable and comes in infinite configurations.

While stick figures are charming in elementary art classes, a compelling rendering of a body caught momentarily in suspension or of an engaging psychological state is extremely difficult to achieve.

All the more amazing, then, are the works in “A Timeless Perfection: American Figurative Sculpture in the Classical Spirit — Gifts from Dr. Michael L. Nieland.” Their fleshy grace and vulnerability belie the inert materials from which they were birthed.

The 57 figurative sculptures in The Westmoreland Museum of American Art exhibition were gifts to the museum in 2015 or are promised gifts for 2018.

The late 19th- and early 20th-century works represent male and female forms standing, reclining and in motion. They range in size from the petite 6-by-3-inch “Might and Right” by William Hunt Diederich to Harriet Whitney Frishmuth’s “Playdays,” which measures 54 by 21 by 17 inches. Most are bronze.

A generation of academically trained sculptors thrived as Gilded Age patrons purchased art for their homes and public commissions were awarded. As aesthetic tastes shifted later in the 20th century, the artists fell out of favor and, eventually, out of memory. Renewed interest among institutions and collectors, and exhibitions such as this one, are re-introducing the artists and their time period to a broader public.

The gift adds 33 new artists to the museum’s permanent collection, including John Donoghue,