Sculptor at Work on a Colossal Statue

Carl August Ehrensvärd Swedish
 Formerly attributed to Johann Tobias Sergel Swedish

Not on view

This image of an artist carving a work that dwarfs him while a trumpeter plays is one of numerous autobiographical drawings the Swedish sculptor Ehrensvärd made throughout his career that reveal both the convivial and the melancholy sides of his personality. While it encapsulates the Piranesi-esque idea of modern man overwhelmed by the magnitude of the monuments of antiquity, Ehrensvärd's drawing is less histrionic in tone.

Sculptor at Work on a Colossal Statue, Carl August Ehrensvärd (Swedish, 1745–1800), Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, white gouache, on gray paper.

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Sculptor at Work on a Colossal Statue, Carl August Ehrensvärd (Swedish, 1745–1800), Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, white gouache, on gray paper.
Sculptor at Work on a Colossal Statue, Carl August Ehrensvärd (Swedish, 1745–1800), Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, white gouache, on gray paper.

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