Focus on Well of Life (sculpture) and analyze the Description.
The sculpture is circular with relief of ten naked figures, a child, love couple and the old man, life-size, that crouch and twist their bodies around a well which contains water. Strong facial expressions of the figures show the joy of life which alternated rhythmically makes the life cycle. The figures are watching their reflections in the water, while their bodies appear to have been frozen in motion. The figures are arranged so that they show to viewer the purpose of the well, i.e., desire for life and joy, which can be seen best in young characters who are hugging and kissing as opposed to the old man who is at the end of his life and looks with grief into the well, a symbol of life. The sculpture depicts man's natural cycle, from birth to death.The sculpture is smooth and rounded with no sharp edges or regular geometric forms. It is made of bronze, whose dark color is in great contrast to the whiteness of the rock on which it is placed. The transitions between light and shadow are mild. The sculpture is both convex and concave.Auguste Rodin's influence on Meštrović can be seen in this sculpture. As art historian professor Ljiljana Čerina says, "With its shimmering surface treatment of the body, Meštrović brings Rodin's impressionism into the Vienna Secession which proves that he is rodinist among secessionists, while later in Paris he proves that he is secessionist among rodinists."
convex sculpture Auguste Rodin concave impressionism secessionists Paris Vienna Secession