Blog Post #22: Cultural/Historical Contexts

"I conceive my work as though done in the round.... Hammering the metal without the aid of fire produces a steel-like strength. Heat can only be harmful.... The form-harmony of "Serenity" was planned as an arrangement of endlessly moving lines with the simplicity of effect executed by a concentration of its many modulations of planes rather than of their elimination." ~Saul Baizerman in a 1954 letter to then director of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery in which he describes the process by which he had executed "Serenity."

Before you are able to begin to analyze and comprehend the sculpture “Serenity,” it is critically important to first understand the cultural and historical contexts in which it was created. “Serenity” was sculpted by Saul Baizerman, and created from 1932 to 1939. The sculpture now resides in the sculpture gardens surrounding the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery on the University Of Nebraska Lincoln campus.

“Serenity,” was a direct product of sculptor Saul Baizerman’s deeply rooted sympathies for the labor movement and social causes (Getty.edu). Baizerman was born in Vitebsk, Russia in 1889. During his youth he became involved in the Bolshevik movement and in 1906 he robbed a bank in order to contribute to the revolutionary cause and was sentenced to jail. With his father’s assistance, Baizerman was able to escape from jail after only a year and a half and fled to the United States. He settled in New York and trained as a sculptor at various art schools while also working hard as a housepainter, machinist, and a dressmaker, (Getty.edu). In the 1920’s he began to shape copper by hand, a very arduous and labor-intensive process. This technique allowed Baizerman to “align his artistic practice with the daily toil of the manual laborer to whom he remained profoundly sympathetic,” (Getty.edu). In addition to producing many copper works throughout his career, Baizerman also created a series of statuettes in bronze and plaster as homage to the urban worker. As he gained prominence, he was able to create larger copper pieces intended for the outdoors, such as “Serenity.” But all of this sculpting also took its toll. The banging of the hammer on hard metals damaged the motor control in his hands and damaged is hearing. His exposure to poisonous chemicals from soldering metal was ultimately what led to his death of cancer at the age of 68, (Getty.edu). Understanding a little about Saul Baizerman’s life gives us insight into what events and motivations lead to the creation of the sculpture, as well as adding to our understanding of the argument the work makes.

Central to the understanding of this sculpture is the ability to comprehend the definition of the word “serenity,” which is the title of the sculpture. According the Merriam Webster online dictionary serenity is a word that means: “the quality or state of being serene.” The same source defines serene as word as being “marked by or suggestive of utter calm and unruffled repose or quietude, (Merriam Webster Dictionary). It is the understanding of these words that provides us with the most basic preliminary understanding of what argument the sculpture attempts to make. The title of a work can provide insight into not only the argument the sculpture attempts to make, but also into why the sculptor created the piece and what their understanding of the work is.