Italian Marble Carving Techniques Workshop With Fred X Brownstein
Instructor: Fred X Brownstein
Dates: August 5-11, 2024
Times: 9 am–4 pm (break 12–1 pm)
Workshop Location: Lyme Academy of Fine Arts
Levels/Ages: This workshop is open to all levels; ages 18+
Both beginning and experienced stone carvers will benefit from practicing the traditional and widely applicable Italian carving techniques taught in this workshop. Students will hand carve a mortar (mortaio) from a block of limestone, just as apprentices in Italian studios were taught to do in order to develop the skills they need to become professional sculptors. In addition to working with the mortar and carving, students will learn to use calipers, scribes, templates, and sharpeners. Every phase will be demonstrated by the instructor and personal instruction will also be provided.
Supplies: Please consult the supply list to confirm and/or obtain the items you will need for the workshop; please also note that, due to the stone required for the workshop project, material costs are substantial. De Gerenday’s, the Academy’s on-campus art store, will have the full kit of workshop tools and the required blocks of limestone available for a discounted bulk fee. Tools may also be purchased a la carte.
Terms: Please review our Terms, Conditions, and Policies prior to enrollment.
Artist Bio
Fred X Brownstein creates contemporary figurative sculpture in marble and bronze. A Tennessee native, Brownstein attended Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and later graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1970 from the San Francisco Art Institute.
In 1971, Brownstein was an Artist-in-Residence at the Karolyi Foundation in Vence, France, where he began carving marble and exhibiting sculpture. With his wife, he moved to Italy and lived there for sixteen years, until 1991. While abroad, Brownstein worked for eight months at Henraux in Querceta and was then accepted as an apprentice to the sculpture studio of Enzo Pasquini, where he trained for four years. Between 1980 and 1984, Brownstein studied figure drawing with the Signorina Nerina Simi in Florence, Italy.
Upon his return to the U.S., Brownstein exhibited with the Grand Central Art Galleries in New York between 1986 and 1992. Since 1985, he has completed 12 public sculpture commissions and his work is included in private collections in Italy, Canada, and the U.S. He has won awards from the National Sculpture Society and the Salmagundi Club in New York, as well as from two national competitions for public sculpture.
Brownstein served as an adjunct professor at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Connecticut and has lectured at many U.S. colleges and museums, including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Alfred University, New York; Middlebury College, Vermont; and at Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Williams College, all in Massachussetts. He is a Fellow member of the National Sculpture Society and a professional member of the Stone Carvers Guild. Brownstein currently resides in Vermont.
