Sculptures by Stuart Feldman

In Upcoming Solo Exhibit at Villanova

Villanova, PA – “My objective as a sculptor,” says Lansdowne, PA, sculptor Stuart Mark Feldman, “is to convey my values in the solid form of sculpture.  Those values, the things I admire in man, include his dignity and nobility, pride, courage, perseverance, and joyfulness.” 

More than 30 of Feldman’s works in bronze, wood, porcelain, marble, and plaster will be on exhibit at the Villanova University Art Gallery beginning October 31.    Entitled ‘Sculpture in the Image of Man’, the show is Feldman’s first solo exhibit in nearly 20 years. 

A free public reception to meet the artist will take place Friday, October 31, from 5 to 7 p.m., in the art gallery on the Villanova campus.  Refreshments will be served.  The exhibit, which continues to December 11, is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Feldman’s own values were influenced by the philosophy of author Ayn Rand.  “Rand viewed man as a being of heroic potential, capable of high morality and great achievement,” notes Feldman.  He adds:

“The goal of my years of studying the human figure has been to discover how to translate this abstract view into the visual medium of sculpture.  People’s gestures and bearing, facial expressions and moods often reflect their own relationship to their values.  It is through a lifetime of observing these outward expressions that I am able to introduce them into a sculpture.  In portraiture, I try to bring out the sitter’s relationship to his or her values, whether or not the person is aware of them.  I then isolate those qualities so that they become the subject of the sculpted portrait.”

Feldman’s training included a 2 ½-year apprenticeship under Dr. Boris Blai, founder of the Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, himself a student of legendary French sculptor Auguste Rodin.  Under Blai, Feldman learned classical and modern figurative sculpture.  Feldman’s bronze bust of Blai depicts the serious visage of a demanding master and teacher. “My objective was to bring out what I saw and admired as essential in his character,” he says. 

Not all of Feldman’s subjects are of noted accomplishment.  His bronze of a former neighbor depicts a young African American woman of determined and self-possessed demeanor.  She was working as a secretary when he sculpted her. “A person’s values often transcend the specifics of one’s life,” Feldman observes. 

The opposite would probably be so in the case of Lindsey, who Feldman sculpted when she was 18 months old.  “Her values have not yet been formed, but you can see a personality emerging.  She is certainly responding to the world around her, in a very individual way.”                                                                                                    

Feldman’s works include three public commissions in Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey.  The most visible comprises four life-sized parent and child fountain figures in Harrisburg’s Reservoir Park that Feldman calls “The Future in Our Hands.”   His other works may be found in Wyncote Academy in Wyncote, PA, Episcopal Academy in Merion, PA, and the Bricktown Public Library in Bricktown, NJ.

A freelance commercial sculptor as well, he has produced character and religious figurines for Lenox Collections.  He has also created figurative works for the Franklin Mint and fine art collectibles for such firms as Telaflora, Royal Nordic Treasures, and Noble Collections.  His works are held in numerous private collections.

Until recently Feldman was a professor of sculpture and anatomy at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.  He left to co-found the Schuylkill Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia, along with noted painter and teacher Kevin Lewellen.  Feldman received his master’s degree in art at Glassboro (Rowan) State College in New Jersey and his bachelor’s in fine arts at Oklahoma State University.  He also studied at Pratt Institute prior to serving in the Armed Forces, and the Angelo Frudakis Academy of Art in Philadelphia for two semesters.

More information about the exhibit may be obtained by telephoning the Villanova University Art Gallery at 610 519-4612.  Exhibited works may also be previewed on the Internet at www.artgallery.villanova.edu .