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Sculptures by Stuart Feldman in solo exhibit at
Art Gallery
Pete Brakman
 “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 are on exhibit at the Villanova University Art Gallery beginning
Oct. 31. Titled “Sculpture in the Image of Man”, the show
is Feldman’s first solo exhibit in nearly 20 years.
The exhibit, which continues to Dec. 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 observed.
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, N.J..
 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 a master’s degree in
art at Glassboro (Rowan) State College in New Jersey and a 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
Art Gallery at 94612. Exhibited works may also be previewed on the Internet
at www.artgallery.villanova.edu.
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