Nightfall, Half Life, Platinum, 2009
Richard MacDonald
Bronze
46" x 31" x 18"
Richard MacDonald American, b. 1946
Nightfall, Half Life, 2009
Bronze
46" x 31" x 18"
FML031NU
Further images
Nightfall is nature’s moment of ultimate resolution, irrevocable and swift: it is the moment when the world changes its character completely. Cloaked in mystery, the female form of “Nightfall” intrigues...
Nightfall is nature’s moment of ultimate resolution, irrevocable and swift: it is the moment when the world changes its character completely.
Cloaked in mystery, the female form of “Nightfall” intrigues us. Concealed is a beautiful face, but like nightfall itself, all is not revealed. The globes in each hand lend activity and movement to the figure, while also suggesting the eternally repeated cycles of nature, and the endlessness of nature’s rhythms. Poised on the scythe shaped moon, the figure of “Nightfall” strides with strength and purpose, conveying the unstoppable nature of time.
Our eye follows the organic curve of the drapery from the top of the head to the base, a device that generates movement in the piece, countering the direction of the stride and creating dramatic visual tension. There is an inherent power suggested in this work by the decisiveness we see in the artist’s stroke in forming the clay: it is not overly finished, but formed with a sure touch.