LouLife

Rooted in realism: Hart sculpting The Three Soldiers, which was unveiled in 1984.

The Universityof Louisvillewill display the sculptural work of Frederick Hart Sept. 6-Nov. 18.

Practically overnight, Frederick Hart — who would one day create The Three Soldiers bronze sculpture in Washington, D.C., near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall — emerged from apprentice to master. It was 1974, and the Washington National Cathedral was holding a competition to select an artist who would create its main entrance’s sculptures. Rather than making pieces depicting Christ on judgment day, the standard for Gothic cathedrals, Hart sculpted God creating the world and man. The jury liked this idea. And not knowing it was the work of Hart, who just so happened to be an apprentice for the cathedral’s stone carvers at the time, it chose him.

Throughout his life, instead of looking to modern art trends, Michelangelo and other Renaissance sculptors inspired him; Hart, who died in 1999, portrayed the human figure as he saw it. Although many criticized this because it wasn’t necessarily innovative, others thought Hart was brilliant. “Rick is — and I do not say this lightly — America’s greatest sculptor,” author Tom Wolfe once said.

After 18 months of planning and arranging to amass Hart’s bronze and acrylic sculptures — from his estate and studio and from collectors and other galleries — the University of Louisville will exhibit 106 of them from Sept. 6 to Nov. 18 at Ekstrom Library, Grawemeyer Hall, Schneider Hall and outside at other campus locations. The CressmanCenterdowntown will display 30 acrylic pieces on lighted pedestals in a dark room and also show some of Hart’s work to explain his creative process — from research to clay models to finished product. Even the SpeedArt Museumwill host speakers who contributed to a book about Hart.

“This is a one-of-a-kind effort to pull together this amount of work and a huge commitment for the university,” says John Begley, the gallery director at U of L. “We wanted it for our own students, but as long as we were doing it, we thought we would share it with the rest of the community.”

During his lifetime, Hart sculpted historical figures such as Strom Thurmond and Jimmy Carter. But his most famous piece is The Three Soldiers. In the early 1980s, Maya Ying Lin won a design competition to create a Vietnam War memorial for the National Mall. Her idea was an abstract, dark stone wall, and the contemporary interpretation angered many, which is why Hart’s more traditional piece of three young, armed soldiers went up as well. It’s this very return to past traditions that stirs up criticism and debate about Hart. But Begley, for his part, understands what the sculptor was trying to accomplish. “Hart wanted to show that cubism, pop art and abstraction were not the only ways,” he says.

For more information visit www.art.louisville.edu or call 852-4483.