The Importance of Foundries

Artists in need of sculpture services are very aware of the various foundries in their area. The artist’s model for the sculpture is usually made from a plaster type of mold. This is a great way for the person designing the sculpture to give it the elaborate detail and emphasis that is necessary to carry through their vision for the piece. However, this is only the beginning of the process that has to take place for the piece to end up as the beautiful bronze sculpture that will be admired and viewed by hundreds if not thousands of people, depending on where it is displayed.

Foundries have been in existence for quite some time. While there are many other things that these artisans create, the art world relies on foundry services for the completion of the sculptures. It takes more than just the work of a great artist to bring these pieces to fruition. The artisans that work as founders are also charged with making sure that they are able to reproduce the work in a way that will allow it to be cast in bronze at the end of the process. This process takes the experience, know-how, training and dedication of the team that does the work.

The staff at the foundries work in unison with the artist to make sure that precise attention to detail and quality is observed. As is expected, the artist will want to make sure that their piece is completely authentic to their original model. If one change is made to any part of the sculpture, it could change the entire purpose and intent that it was originally designed to convey.

One of the most important aspects of the reproduction of the sculptures and art work is the final patina that is applied. The artist can specify the exact type of bronze patina that they require. It is the accent that will allow the piece to glimmer and shine. It must be done meticulously in order to meet quality specifications. Attention is also given to the last stage of the process to make sure that any errant pieces of bronze or other metals that may remain from the casting are buffed away so that only the intended piece is left behind. This is an important process.

An artist will work with foundries to get a bid on their piece prior to beginning the process of bronze casting. It is common for a piece to take six to eight weeks to be completed so making sure that the process is moving along nicely is important to the foundries and the artist as well.

These companies that reproduce art for artists employ a plethora of technicians, engineers, draftsman and other professionals to ensure that the work of art will be handled with the utmost care and craftsmanship so that it will be a rendering of exactly what the artist or the customer intended for it to be. This is a very important part of the artistic process.

On June 24, 2019   /   About Betz Art Foundry   /   Leave a comment