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Photos by Mark Ostrander, courtesy The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery
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The history of sculpture includes many casts and studies of hands. Hyatt Huntington cast her own hand, as well as the hands of her husband, Archer Milton Huntington (1870–1955), and her father-in-law, Collis Potter Huntington (1821–1900). They are unusual because they are made of aluminum, a lightweight material that became available to sculptors in the late nineteenth century. It was valued for its unique surface quality, portability, and relative affordability. The artist’s hand holds a wire sculpting tool, commonly used to strip layers of clay away in the initial stages of the modeling process. It thus evokes the moment of pure, unmediated thought. –MB
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