Four Seasons (after Arcimboldo)
by Philip Haas
Material
Painted fibreglas and organic materials
Dating
2011
About the artwork
The world-famous contemporary artist Philip Haas has created four large sculptures representing the different seasons. He was inspired by the classical Italian painting of the Renaissance, especially by the work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. These painted portraits are already known as somewhat crazy, three-dimensional sculptures…The large green heads entitled “Four Seasons” were created from natural and organic materials. Let’s take a look at winter: his face was made from a large piece of tree bark and his hair is made from gnarled branches and ivy. In contrast, summer was created with the help of bright bouquets of flowers.
About the artist
The American director gained fame as one of the most influential documentary filmmakers on contemporary art. He also shoots feature films and deals with installation art and sculpture.
Philip Haas studied theatre at the Harvard University and, after finishing his studies in 1976, he moved to England to work as an assistant director to Clifford Williams at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Shortly after he switched to film and assisted James Ivory with his project ‘Jane Austen in Manhattan’. After that he produced several documentaries on different artists and their projects. Meanwhile he is focusing on the, how he calls it, third part of his career: creating sculptures.