You wouldn't want to use this to light a fire!
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| The finished sculpture, by Randall Rosenthal, looks real (SWNS) |
Pieces of wood can fetch up to $25,000.
But this isn't the type
of wood found in your back garden - art lovers fork out huge sums for
blocks of wood which are painstakingly carved into works of art with
breathtaking results.
Randall Rosenthal, 65, specialises in
wooden sculptures of mundane, everyday items such as a chopping board, a
pile of newspapers and an atlas.
The New York-based artist can
spend months on each project, whittling the wood down into shape and
then intricately hand-painting the details.
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| These pictures show Rosenthal's process, from a few lines on a thick block of wood to an incredible realistic piece … |
The result are sculptures that are so realistic, they can easily be
mistaken for the real thing. The only give away is the slight hint of
the wood's grain showing through the paint.
Mr Rosenthal said: "My hope is they will seem real from a short distance, but on closer inspection I don't try to hide the fact they are wood.
"My work is completely reductive. I start with a solid block and remove material until I am done.
"Painting is the opposite and I paint until I am satisfied.
"It should be noted however that often the painting has as little room for error as the carving."
Mr Rosenthal doesn't work from models or photographs, preferring to imagine the scene in his mind before approaching the wood.
When Mr Rosenthal puts on a gallery exhibition, he goes against the grain by allowing his audience to touch one of his sculptures - to ascertain whether they're real or fake.
The others are protected leaving his audience to decide whether they are real or not.
His "Lunch Money" sculpture, representing stacks of hundred dollar bills in a corrugated cardboard box took six weeks to carve and another six to finish painting.
Art lovers had to pay out $25,000 in 'real' money for the sculpture.
Mr Rosenthal said: "My hope is they will seem real from a short distance, but on closer inspection I don't try to hide the fact they are wood.
"My work is completely reductive. I start with a solid block and remove material until I am done.
"Painting is the opposite and I paint until I am satisfied.
"It should be noted however that often the painting has as little room for error as the carving."
Mr Rosenthal doesn't work from models or photographs, preferring to imagine the scene in his mind before approaching the wood.
When Mr Rosenthal puts on a gallery exhibition, he goes against the grain by allowing his audience to touch one of his sculptures - to ascertain whether they're real or fake.
The others are protected leaving his audience to decide whether they are real or not.
His "Lunch Money" sculpture, representing stacks of hundred dollar bills in a corrugated cardboard box took six weeks to carve and another six to finish painting.
Art lovers had to pay out $25,000 in 'real' money for the sculpture.
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Source: Yahoo UK News
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