Comments on: Canonical Grimaces: Franz Xaver Messerschmidt

By: jake

jake — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:43:16 +0000

Myself and the actor Bill Rice stumbled upon a small show here in NYC a few years back and were astonished.I hadn’t heard of Messerschmidt,Bill of course had.We were utterly blown away.

By: meardearna

meardearna — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:28:40 +0000

I have always got a soft spot for his character heads. I can imagine Messerschmidt scrunching, pulling and stretching his face whilst sculpting those priceless expressions.

By: nadi

nadi — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:24:53 +0000

ha! I was just in Vienna Last week looking at those, how crazy!

By: Kale Kip

Kale Kip — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:49:24 +0000

I can’t stop imagining what Messerschmidt would have looked like working on these. This old master sculptor devotedly working on these caricature busts. That would be somebody to interview. I’d read it.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:03:33 +0000

Tara/Tequila: I’d nominate Joseph Seigenthaler as the contemporary artist worthy of the Messerschmidt mantle…amazing stuff!! http://www.joeseigenthaler.com/Home.html

Dmitry: This may the the year for mask attempt #2!

Ross: :)

By: Ross Rosenberg

Ross Rosenberg — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:17:27 +0000

These are absolutely fantastic. The detail is especially impressive, just look at the folds and wrinkles around the eyes. Really, really excellent.

By: Tequila

Tequila — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:17:34 +0000

Whatever the reason behind them, these feel much more human and alive then the lifeless stuff normally associated with this kind of portrait sculpture. The fact they are pretty hilarious only adds to their charm.

@Tara. Indeed, totally agree. I’m curious if there are any sculptors around these days who do something similar.

By: samarov

samarov — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:20:06 +0000

I was fairly obsessed with these back in art school days. Also attempted, unsuccessfully, to make a papier-mache replica as a Halloween mask a few years back. Thanks for putting them back in view…

By: alistar

alistar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:50:18 +0000

I actually saw “The Vexed Man” this last weekend at the Getty in Los Angeles.

I was totally tickled, especially since he sits in a room with classic sculpture in bronze and marble.

It was just a bit of fresh air when walking into the gallery where he sits in the museum to see that expression.

By: Tara

Tara — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:11:22 +0000

If I hadn’t read the post and just looked at the portraits, I would never have guessed that he was from the 1700s. They are so modern, and its good to see something other than overbearing pomp and austerity from that age. People’s facial expressions were the same then that they are now, which is very interesting to see. He was clearly before his time; I have a feeling the Impressionists and modern art world would have loved and embraced his work.