Hildebrand critico della scultura cubista. Il caso degli Amanti di Raymond Duchamp-Villon
Gemma Zaganelli
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the point of view becomes a central issue in the artistic production of painters and sculptors. In particular, the principles of sculpture seem to reflect Adolf von Hildebrand’s theories. In his Das Problem der Form in der bildenden Kunst (The Problem of Form in painting and sculpture), von Hildebrand dedicates an entire chapter to the representation in relief, in which the figure appears between two ideal parallel planes. Clear form of representation is the goal to pursue, avoiding hedonism expressed by Herbart’s formal aesthetics. The external world finds its legitimacy in the cognitive act of our conscience through the productive activity of the eye. Hildebrand establishes the canons of representation and recognizes the distant image as an artistic image that corresponds to the needs of visibility. He focuses on the genesis of the three-dimensional work and on the experience of the creative process, turning out to be a forerunner and interpreter of the formal renewal of Cubist sculpture. Raymond Duchamp-Villon is one of the first to acknowledge the meaning of the Hildebrand’s philosophy: his art work seem to disengage from traditional compositional laws, integrating the principles of architecture with those of sculpture.