M.L. SNOWDEN ART
THE ARTISTIC WORLD OF M.L. SNOWDEN
“M.L. Snowden is the closest and last living link to Auguste Rodin.” Alex Ettl, President Sculpture House, Philanthropist, Alex Ettl Grant
Introduction
M.L. Snowden’s bronzes communicate positive inner and outer worlds. They speak to emotion and the possibilities of human potential. Through a momentous vision that fuses science and art, Snowden continues to shape the bronze collection of the Geological Coreium into an important artistic hallmark of the millennium.
As Rodin scholar and curator Marie Busco comments, “Perhaps most importantly, these are bronzes that have been crafted by hand in the foundry by a woman who has overcome frailty to express qualities of humanitarian energy and power. Indeed, working alone without models, the sculptor has come to express cosmic forces that give rise to humankind and light.” [1]
[1] Marie Busco,PhD.is the author of Rodin and His Contemporaries with Philippe de Montebello of the Metropolitan Museum of art. Marie Busco. Forward, M.L. Snowden: Clay for Bronze. Fabriano Libri, 2004
Awards and Commissions
M.L . (Mary Louise) Snowden’s internationally recognized bronzes have garnered some of the world’s most prestigious awards and commissions. The artist won the greatest sculpture prize of the latter half of the 20th century, the International Rodin Competition, presented in Tokyo, Japan. And, at the age of 36, Snowden’s honors included the Alex Ettl Grant, America’s foremost prize for “lifetime achievement in American Sculpture.” Known for private as well as public works, Snowden created the Albert Gersten Pavilion Memorial in Los Angeles as well as the California Glendale Memorial; a monumental fifteen foot 10-ton bronze that has been widely featured in films and television. Famously, Snowden created the 8-ton Main Altar of the $200 million Los Angeles Cathedral that was dedicated by John Paul II. [1] And, Snowden’s private works commissioned by individual collectors, span the globe from Europe to South America, from Asia to Australia.
[1] Archives of the National Sculpture Society, New York, National Museum of Women in Arts, Washington, D.C; Brookgrenn Sculpture Gardens, SC.
Museums
A number of important institutions hold M.L. Snowden’s art. Snowden’s sculpture was acquired for the permanent collection of the world’s foremost sculpture museum, the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan in 1992. In 2006, Snowden’s bronze Cataclasis Study was added to the permanent collection of the White House. Recently in 2012, Snowden’s original drawing of the Cristal Muses was added to the collection of the Butler Institute of American Art. Through generosity of a major Snowden patron, the Metropolitan Museum of Art received an original drawing of Cataclasis Study through its legal department into its collection. The Vatican Collections in Rome house M.L. Snowden’s works through the patronage of His Holiness, John Paul II.[1] The Museum of Contemporary Art in Arkansas maintains a permanent display of Snowden’s Photon, where an original Photon drawing was added to the Museum’s permanent collection. Snowden’s work was added the Queen’s private collection at Buckingham Palace in London, acquired in celebration of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.[2] In 2014, one of the world’s great museums, the Instituto Ricardo Brennand in Brazil hosted an M.L. Snowden Sculpture Symposium on its latest Snowden bronze acquisition curated by Philip Aca.[3] As Dr. Louis Zona, Director and Curator of the Butler Institute of American Art commented, “Snowden’s work is marvelous. The craftsmanship could not be higher.”[4]
[1] http://www.olacathedral.org// altar angeks
[2] M.L.Snowden Correspondence Archives: incl. letter from Buckingham Palace, 2012.
[4]Ibid. Correspondence Archives; http://mlsnowden.com/Compendium.htm.
Career Milestones
Snowden’s oeuvre is continuously achieving milestones. In the fall of 2012, Snowden’s art traveled to the Vatican in celebration of the Canonization of Saints, since her Angels form the Holy Reliquary of Saint Patrick, Saint Francis of Assisi, and the new American Saint, Kateri Tekakwitha at the Altar of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.[1] In 2013, Snowden completed a new visionary approach to bronze in evoking cosmic nebulae which feature diamond inspired detail.[2] In 2014, Snowden’s work stepped forward into new expressive forms that are continuously evolving through the year 2015 and beyond.
[1] Pamela Hale-Burns. M.L. Snowden “Canonization of Saints” Press Telegram, 19 Oct. 2012; http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_21805828/long-beach-artists-work-be-part-native-american?source=email; Jack Hagel. The Great Golden Angels of the Main Altar. Orlena Press, 20009.
[2]. M.L. Snowden. “The Nebulae Collection” trifold brochure; The Works of M.L. Snowden: Orion, Omega, Ariel filmed interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp4wX4XVnhI; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuBeeOJBVUE; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynm-aWC1cCo
M.L. Snowden and the 8 ton main altar of Our Lady of Angels in Los Angeles
Critical Acclaim
Snowden’s art has attracted an international roster of distinguished commentary. According to Peter Fusco curator emeritus of sculpture at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Snowden creates” Beautiful…. Impressive sculpture.” On winning the Ettl Grant, the late Alex Ettl remarked at the awards ceremony that “M.L. Snowden is that one living sculptor whose inventive touch carries the authentic essence of the master Paris ateliers. Her intensive handwork is the last remaining and unbroken line that reaches us today from Auguste Rodin. Put simply, M.L. Snowden is the closest and last living link to Auguste Rodin. More importantly, she has made this heritage uniquely her own as a basis for new groundbreaking sculptural invention. As a historically important artist, she’s shaping the new pinnacle of contemporary figurative sculpture.” On the delivery of Snowden’s art to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace succinctly pronounced the work “Splendid.”[1]
[1] Ibid. Correspondence Archives.