Artist: Bill Mack
Title: Picasso (Bonded Bronze)
Year created: 1984
Medium: Bonded Bronze Sculpture, Alto- & Bas-Relief, in Original Studio Custom Framing
Edition: 44/65 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition
Height (inches): 42-1/2
Width (inches): 51-1/4 — Frame Width, including Picasso’s extended hand
Width (inches): 50-1/8 — Frame Width
Depth (inches): 7-1/4
Signed by the artist
Signed Area: front
This piece is framed.
Description of piece:
Bonded bronze gives this original Bill Mack Picasso sculpture its deeply lustrous finish. Measuring 42-1/8” in height x 51-1/4” width x 7-1/4” depth, this grand-scaled work is a striking presentation piece. At once timeless and modern, the work incorporates high-relief, 3-dimensional elements and bas-relief sculpting evocative of ancient Egyptian bas-relief carvings.
The prominent figure of Pablo Picasso literally reaches out from the work, rendered with fine detailing and punctuated by Picasso's 3-dimensional hand which extends beyond the confines of the custom framing.
Contrasting the highly realistic sculpted Picasso is a second portrait of Picasso in bas-relief, rendered exquisitely in Picasso-esque style: Picasso at an easel in his iconic wide-striped shirt, painter’s palette in one hand, while with the other hand he paints a canvas; the surrealist-style image reflecting the beautifully rendered high-relief sculptural portrait.
Hand-signed by the artist, the work also bears the edition number 44/65 incorporated into the signature area. This stately bronze bonded sculptural artwork is quintessential Bill Mack.
Picasso comes framed in its original custom framing from the artist's studio, which features a black linen dimensional structured matting, within a custom frame in lustrous black with tiered fine edge-detailing.
The work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Artist bio:
He has no mentors. There is nowhere to go to learn his art. No one teaches his technique. Sculptor Bill Mack works in such a rare art form that coming up with a name to describe it has been only slightly less arduous than creating the art itself.
"Calling my artwork solely bas-relief," Mack says, "is incorrect since bas-relief technically refers to low relief sculpture. My art, in fact, has more physical depth than high relief; it incorporates various elements in full-round, rising toward the viewer."
Combining low and high relief, incised lines, and elements in the full-round in sculpture works that are light enough to be hung on a wall, Mack directly involves the viewer in a 3-dimensional experience, both textural and tactile, that is often startling real. He utilizes techniques combining various levels of relief and full-round portions called 'Alto Relief' sculptures, similar to techniques used in classic Roman and Greek buildings.
"Mack's art elicits an immediate emotional response," notes one critic. "A moment in time is stopped, a familiar face revealed, the grace of a body in motion captured. The viewer becomes more than an observer; he becomes a participant in the drama unfolding before his eyes."
With exhibits in galleries from New York City to Beverly Hills, and from Tokyo to Frankfurt, Mack’s work has been collected by Presidents Clinton, Ford and Reagan; actors such as Sylvester Stallone, Elizabeth Taylor, and Tony Curtis; and celebrities as diverse as Kenny Rogers, comic Howie Mandel, and record producer Jimmy "Jam" Harris.