Clay Sculpture Called at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

At the same time as these amazing constructions Picasso also used quite a different technique and after a long period of preparation, with a large number of drawings, he finally produced one of his most famous works, a clay sculpture called " Man with Sheep" (top left) (1944). Picasso himself used to tell the story of how he came to finish the sculpture: it was over six foot high, and after he had spent only two consecutive afternoons on it, he discovered that he had not prepared it properly. Then for two whole months, he did not even touch the metal frame of the sculpture.

Since 19< traditional handicrafts such as wood, jade, an ivory carving have been much encouragei Craftsmen, organized in cooperatives, have secure livelihood and standards of workmanshi are very high. But there is little originality. Th village craft of clay sculpture also underwent sudden revival, of which the most striking es ample is a rendition in Szechwan, where the ren collectors and suffering peasants are modelei life-size in clay with dramatic realism.

Sculpture, unlike painting, may be appreciated by touch as well as by seeing. Even if one does not actually touch it when contemplating a particular work of sculpture, the appreciation of the smoothness of surface and the modulation of one mass into another may be so strong that the mind receives the sensation of touching. This is commonly referred to as tactile quality, and oftentimes the kind of sculpture which produces a strong tactile expression is called plastic. Small works of sculpture, such as some of the Chinese jade carvings, invite one to take them in the hand.