Do you need some inspiration before you embark on your mold making and casting project (courtesy of this month’s Smart Art Box)? Whether you’re a beginner or more seasoned artist, travel around the world and through time with us now, to discover some of the most inspiring sculptures ever made! Have you ever seen them in person?

1. Copper Frog, 3200 B.C.

If you read our first post this month you’ll remember that the oldest surviving casting is a copper frog from 3200 BC Mesopotamia! The discovery of melted copper is thought to have followed that of gold and silver (which were probably found in their natural form and hammered into shapes). By the time prehistoric people came across copper, they already had knowledge of pottery making. This means that they could then combine two processes, and shape the liquid metal through clay, sand or stone molds.

2. Donatello, David, 1430

Italy was central to the Renaissance, with Florence as a particularly thriving city. This is where the iconic sculptor Donatello lived and worked. In 1430, he completed his masterpiece in bronze David, depicting a biblical hero who vanquished the Philistine giant, Goliath. In this story about heroism and overcoming odds, Donatello’s version of the young hero was young with delicate, feminine features, posed with an oversized sword and helmet. It was thought to be a commission by the wealthy Cosimo de Medici and placed in Medici Palace courtyard.

3. Constantin Brancusi, Sleeping Muse, 1910

The works of Romanian-French sculptor Constantin Brancusi are considered seminal works of modern art today. His bronze Sleeping Muse, reduced as it is to fundamental forms and details, encapsulates tenets of modernism. The one pictured here, in the collection of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, is one of four casts made from a marble version, modeled by the Baroness Renée Irana Franchon.

4. George Segal, Street Crossing, 1992

The plaster sculptural installation Street Crossing presents a randomly placed group of seven people in the act of moving through a crossroads. This work illustrates Segal’s aim of elevating everyday situations to wider poetic and psychological meanings. He created these plaster works by covering his subjects entirely in dry plaster bandages.

5. Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog, 1994-2000

This mirror-polished stainless steel sculpture of a balloon dog with transparent color coating by American artists Jeff Koons was made for his Celebration series. Begun in 1994, it also included other large-scale sculptures and paintings of, for example, Valentine hearts, diamonds and Easter eggs. These whimsical postmodern sculptures each come in five different colors.

6. You!

Open up your Smart Art Box and make your own sculpture using ComposiMold… !