John De Andrea (born November 24, 1941) is an American
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
known for his realistic sculptures of human figures, dressed or nude and in true-to-life postures.
Life
De Andrea was born in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Colorado, on November 24, 1941. He received his
Bachelor of Fine Arts from the
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...
and studied at the
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
in
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
on an art scholarship, 1966–8. He lives in Denver.
Work and themes
De Andrea is an artistic representative of
Hyperrealism and the
Hyperrealism school of art, and specializes in nudes, frequently lovers, which he makes from plastic, polyester, glass fiber with natural hair and painted after naturalistic gypsum castings. His work is often associated with that of
Duane Hanson
Duane Hanson (January 17, 1925 – January 6, 1996) was an American artist and sculptor born in Minnesota. He spent most of his career in South Florida. He was known for his life-sized realistic sculptures of people. He cast the works based o ...
and
George Segal.
In
documenta 5
documenta 5 was the fifth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 30 June and 8 October 1972 in Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hes ...
in
Kassel 1972, he presented ''Arden Andersen and Nora Murphy'', a hyper-realistic sculpture of a couple in the act of love-making, made from bodycasts rendered in polyester resin.
This alienation between the lovers and their incurable misfortune becomes even clearer with his 1978 work on display in Aachen, entitled ''The Couple''. The man is not only fully dressed and the woman naked, but she clings to him, while he touches her only minimally, in order to not induce an open rejection.
De Andrea's works based on the sculptor and his model are characterized by a sober, professional relationship between the man and the woman; the artist concentrates on his work or rather is shown in situations, where he withdraws within himself to a meditative posture, and retreats into himself, in order to collect his energy and concentration for further work.
Collections
De Andrea's work is included in the numerous permanent collections, including:
* the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
,
* the
Museum Ludwig
Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, Germany, houses a collection of modern art. It includes works from Pop Art, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It holds many works by Andy Warhol and Roy ...
in Aachen and Cologne, Germany.
* the
Portland Museum of Art
The Portland Museum of Art, or PMA, is the largest and oldest public art institution in the U.S. state of Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882. It is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District in Portland, Maine.
...
,
* the
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art ("The Johnson Museum") is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its collection includes two windows from Frank Lloyd W ...
, and
* the
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an art museum located in the Civic Center of Denver, Colorado. With encyclopedic collections of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world, the DAM is one of the largest art museums between ...
.
See also
*
Duane Hanson
Duane Hanson (January 17, 1925 – January 6, 1996) was an American artist and sculptor born in Minnesota. He spent most of his career in South Florida. He was known for his life-sized realistic sculptures of people. He cast the works based o ...
*
Ron Mueck
Hans Ronald Mueck ( or /ˈmuːɪk/; born 1958) is an Australian sculptor working in the United Kingdom.
Biography
Born in 1958 to German parents in Melbourne, Australia, Ron Mueck grew up in the family business of puppetry and doll-making. He ...
*
George Segal
References
External links
John de Andrea. Sphinx. 1987. Polyvinyl, oil paint: life-size.East Tennessee State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Andrea, John
1941 births
Living people
Artists from Denver
University of Colorado Boulder alumni
University of New Mexico alumni
Hyperrealist artists
Sculptors from Colorado