Episodes
Published 11/22/22
Huntington was a prolific American sculptor in the early 20th century, but her greatest legacy may be the extensive and unique sculpture park she built, the first of its kind in the United States. Listen here to learn about the past and future of Brookgreen Garden; with interviews with Bryan Rapp and Robin Salmon.
Published 07/23/22
The Venus De Milo, the Torso Belvedere, The Winged Victory, The Laocoon - some of the most famous Antique sculpture in the world. Strange that we know so little about who made them and why! So what makes them so famous? Find out the unexpected reasons here.
Published 09/19/21
It's often hyperbole to describe something as 'colossal' - but when you're talking about the statue for which the word 'colossal' was coined, you get a pass. Learn what there is to know about how and why the Colossus of Rhodes was built, and how it rightly earned its place as one of the Seven Wonders of the World - the original Bucket List.
Published 01/30/21
The Sculptor's Funeral Podcast is finishing off this strange and terrible year with the final round of the quiz show! Listen to Lubov, David, and Liz test their knowledge of the history of sculpture, in their quest to attain the coveted Sculptor's Funeral coffee mug.
Published 12/26/20
Listen to CJ, Mark, and Lubov go head to head in Round Three of the Sculptor's Funeral Quiz Show!
Published 09/06/20
Listen to Rony, Alison, and David go head to head in Round Two of the Sculptor's Funeral Quiz Show!
Published 06/04/20
Three avid listeners of the Sculptor's Funeral Podcast match wits and test their knowledge of art history! Round one, with Bruce, Liz, and Ali.
Published 05/16/20
Praxiteles and Lysippos - the two giants of 4th century Greece, and they are both covered in this episode. Learn what happened to the first classical nude female statue! Learn why eight heads are better than seven! And does Alexander succeed in Making Attica Great Again? Find out here.
Published 03/28/20
If 'Classic' derives from the Greek word for 'Best', then what comes after the time of Classical Athens? Something not as good for Athens, of course. But despite the fall of the world's first democracy, the arts in Athens and all of Greece continued and even flourished. In the first of this two-part episode, we'll cover the sculptors Alkamenes, Kresilas, and Skopas. In the second part, look out for Lysippos and Praxiteles.
Published 01/26/20
In this episode. Jason discusses the sculpture of Polykleitos and the ideas behind them. One of the most celebrated sculptors in history, Polykleitos devised a new formula for the creation of figurative sculpture, known as the Kanon, which set the standard for generations of Greek sculptors following in this giant's wake. Want to be a Classicist in sculpture? The Kanon of Polykleitos is Classicism 101.
Published 11/10/19
In this follow-up on the episode concerning the Greek sculptor Phidias, we take a look at the sculptural program of Greece's most famous structure, the Parthenon: why they were made, what they meant then, and why they have remained relevant - and even controversial - right up to our own day.
Published 03/10/19
Vision, talent, will, and money - the perfect combination for a Golden Age in sculpture. It's only happened a small handful of times, and it happened first in 5th Century BC Greece. In the first of a series of episodes covering this period, Jason discusses well-known landmarks of Classical Greece such as the Riace Bronzes, the Discus Thrower, and the life and work of the greatest of Old Masters - Phidias.
Published 12/29/18
What did it take to move Greek culture forward into the Classical period from the Archaic? Just a few victorious battles against impossible odds, unexpected and fantastic wealth, military and political genius, and... - oh yeah, the complete destruction of Athens. Learn how luck, will, disasters, and mayhem strong enough to wipe the archaic smile off any Greek's face kickstarted the greatest era of Greek civilization. 
Published 11/30/18
Renaissance means 'Rebirth'. But we don't hear much about the original 'Naissance' in Ancient Greece that gave birth to what we call Classical sculpture. When were the first lifesized bronze figures cast? What were the first civic public monuments? Who invented Contrapposto? Find out here.
Published 11/04/18
In the first of a new series of Sculptor's Funeral episodes focusing on the ancient Greeks, Jason looks at the fundamental question underlying the nature of the entire Western European Tradition of sculpture - Why Greece? Why did it all start there, and why do artists throughout history keep returning there -and not Egypt or Persia or another artistic tradition? It's actually a question with a straightforward answer - Nature. But the origins and motives behind this simple answer are more...
Published 09/29/18
Gutzon Borglum's masterpiece, the Mount Rushmore National Monument... Overblown tourist attraction, or a sculpture for the Ages? Listen to the unlikely story of its creation, and you might decide that somehow it's both.
Published 06/02/18
Who is Gutzon Borglum, you ask? How strange that the sculptor of the Mount Rushmore National Monument in South Dakota is practically unknown, even in the United States. In the first of this two-part episode, we look at the life and work of the man, before he met the mountain.
Published 02/19/18
This episode of the Sculptor's Funeral examines the controversy surrounding the removal of statues from public spaces around the United States. Why are statues commemorating the losing side of a civil war more prevalent than those commemorating the victors of other wars? What is the message they were designed to send - and who sent the message? Jason examines this fascinating case study in public art as propaganda.
Published 01/14/18
Daniel Chester French's greatest work is arguably the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. but where does 'greatness' in art come from? Is it given to the artwork by its creator, or is it, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder?
Published 05/23/17
Daniel Chester French is mostly remembered for sculpting the colossal Lincoln on the National Mall in Washington DC, but equally, he was America's master of memorials in the late 19th century. From the Minuteman to the Melvin Memorial, he produced works which helped promote the city beautiful movement far beyond the nation's capital.
Published 04/19/17
Is it Paris? Versailles? Venice? ...Chicago, actually! The stunning cityscape you see in  the image was known as the White City, a dreamlike place which existed for a few short years before disappearing - but its legacy lives on in cities and towns all over the United States, part of a phenomenon known as the City Beautiful Movement.
Published 02/15/17
 "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me..." ...The American ideals which the Statue of Liberty represents are hard to trump...
Published 01/18/17
In this interview, Jason talks with Michael Defeo, a sculptor who has developed dozens of characters for animated features like Ice Age and Despicable Me, using every tool at his disposal, from clay to Zbrush and beyond. But what is 'digital' sculpting? Is it 'really' sculpting? How does it work?  Mike and Jason discuss these questions and more.
Published 12/16/16