Wereldtentoonstelling te Antwerpen 1930 1930

This bronze medal was made by Josué Dupon to commemorate the World Fair in Antwerp, 1930. I love this, the surface feels like it's alive. There is a kind of pushing and pulling between the figures and ground, like the artist is feeling his way through the image, building it up and then knocking it back. The figures have a monumental, almost sculptural quality, yet there's something quite tender in the way they're depicted. I find myself drawn to the reclining figure on the left-hand side. The way the bronze has been worked around the head and shoulders feels so tactile, almost like I could reach out and touch it. It's as though Dupon is inviting us to experience the sensuality of the material and the figures represented. This piece reminds me a little of the work of Aristide Maillol, who also sought a more classical approach to representing the human form, embracing both monumentality and sensitivity. Ultimately, it is the way art is used to describe and evoke feeling, that makes the experience of it so enduring.