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Awards
About the Author
Robert F Murray established The von Brahler Ltd./Gallery (1983-2011). Since 2011, he has arranged exhibits in alternate spaces for artists and wrote about them for the art media. For several years his main focus has been on the works of contemporary Russian-born emigré artists. In 1985, he created the Association of Alexandria Art Galleries that he managed until 1995. He has both a BLA and an MLA from the Liberal Studies Program, Georgetown University, and published the book Swampoodle Lily, which highlights his experience as a major team member in the Renovation of Saint Aloysius Jesuit Church in Washington, D.C.
THE ELEGANCE OF NATURE SOFTLY CARVED IN SOAPSTONE
Robert Francis Murray, New Academia Publishing/VELLUM 2024
106 pages
ISBN 979-8-9900542-1-9 paperback
ISBN 979-8-9900542-2-6 hardback
See an excerpt from the book.
$52 hardback
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Queries: orders@newacademia.com
About the Author
Robert F Murray established The von Brahler Ltd./Gallery (1983-2011). Since 2011, he has arranged exhibits in alternate spaces for artists and wrote about them for the art media. For several years his main focus has been on the works of contemporary Russian-born emigré artists. In 1985, he created the Association of Alexandria Art Galleries that he managed until 1995. He has both a BLA and an MLA from the Liberal Studies Program, Georgetown University, and published the book Swampoodle Lily, which highlights his experience as a major team member in the Renovation of Saint Aloysius Jesuit Church in Washington, D.C.
THE ELEGANCE OF NATURE SOFTLY CARVED IN SOAPSTONE
This volume traces the history of the Chinese soapstone carvers and explains why they chose nature and symbolic figures as the subject matter. It includes a selected gallery from the author’s collection of hundreds of soapstone pieces. From the author: “There is little available information about the real origin of Chinese soapstone carvings. Perhaps one reason being that soapstone was considered lesser in value than jade, the most sought after by collectors. Soapstone was a substitute more readily available and affordable. As my collection grew and I acquired carvings from other countries, it became noticeable that the Chinese were the master carvers with similarities from piece to piece that suggested a definite traditional style with deeper roots and meaning. In time it became harder to find them especially the carvings of a specific soft green tone that resembled that of the few figures that had begun the collection at the turn of the twentieth century. In and among my collection, now numbering in the hundreds of pieces, are some jade pieces. When comparing the carving itself, the intricate inclusions in soapstone, despite the colorations, are artistically superior to the jade that is considered much more valuable and rarer.”
Praise
“Bob Murray’s soapstone study is a refreshingly dynamic and sophisticated, cultural and historical chronology of the ancient world of metamorphic soapstone rock, written in a uniquely novel manner of storytelling — a must read for enthusiasts of hand-carved sculpturing.” ―David A. Castelveter, Director, Office of Public Affairs, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
“This beautifully illustrated volume is a unique and informative introduction to Chinese soapstone artwork, and a substantive primer for others like me who are not deeply familiar with the fine arts or this genre. As an anthropologist specializing in cultural evolution, I think that this volume may elevate expert and non-expert appreciation of Chinese small soapstone sculpture relative to more highly valued and popular Chinese artwork made from jade. Of course, only time will tell. For now, Murray’s book certainly succeeds in establishing a compelling argument for initiating such a cultural change within the art world and among the public.” ―James E. Lassiter, Ph.D., Cultural Anthropologist, Atlanta