Assignment Four – The Family Group by Charles Umlauf
Charles Umlauf created The Family Group sculpture in 1960. The location of the sculpture is outside of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Its green color distinguishes the sculpture from the many other sculptures around the university and from the background of the business school. Much of the evidence in the paper will come from the structure and form of the sculpture. The sculpture depicts a woman leaning on her husband showing a traditional family structure. Although the family dynamic will not play a large part of the paper, it is important to note that the husband is placed as the dominant member of the family. Another important feature of the sculpture …show more content…
For the university, family is believed to stand for the common culture of being longhorns. As a university we have a shared experience of attending the same school, partaking in the same culture and remembering the same history. This creates a relationship between all members of the university. The students are symbols of the family that will be the future of the economy. Furthermore, the background of Charles Umlauf provides an insight into the concept of a family both physically and metaphorically. Physically, Umlauf’s family is composed of a wife and a child. Due to the artists family structure, it provides a reasonable reason for the dynamic of the family of the sculpture. His dedication towards his family played a factor to his strong belief that family is the foundation of the economy. Metaphorically, as an art professor at The University of Texas at Austin for thirty years, Umlauf developed a relationship with the university as his family. Due to this relationship manifested between him and the university, the placement of the sculpture was determined to be at the university, in which he taught. Umlauf’s metaphorical family was the …show more content…
The implicit purpose was formed through the structure of the statue, the gaze of the son and the background of the artist. The first justification for the implied purpose was based on the structure of the sculpture. The holding of the child by the father towards the sky, as an act of sacrifice and giving to God demonstrated the religious charge in the gesture. Furthermore, the act towards divinity by the father is replicated by the son who raises his right hand towards the sky. There is a sharp distinction created by the hand the son raised. In Western religion, there exists a dichotomy between the left-hand and right-hand associated paths of life. The left equates to malicious black magic and the devil. On the other hand, the hand the child chose to raise ̶ the right hand ̶ is associated with pure white magic and God. Therefore, by raising the right hand the child is associating himself with the benevolent power opposed to the treachery of black magic. In addition to the child placing his right palm up, his gaze is also looking above him. By looking towards the sky, the child is implying that there is a presence above him, justifying the belief that Umlauf placed an unseen power in the context of his sculpture. Finally, Umlauf’s background as an artist inspired works with similar themes of family, religion and
Charles Umlauf created The Family Group sculpture in 1960. The location of the sculpture is outside of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Its green color distinguishes the sculpture from the many other sculptures around the university and from the background of the business school. Much of the evidence in the paper will come from the structure and form of the sculpture. The sculpture depicts a woman leaning on her husband showing a traditional family structure. Although the family dynamic will not play a large part of the paper, it is important to note that the husband is placed as the dominant member of the family. Another important feature of the sculpture …show more content…
For the university, family is believed to stand for the common culture of being longhorns. As a university we have a shared experience of attending the same school, partaking in the same culture and remembering the same history. This creates a relationship between all members of the university. The students are symbols of the family that will be the future of the economy. Furthermore, the background of Charles Umlauf provides an insight into the concept of a family both physically and metaphorically. Physically, Umlauf’s family is composed of a wife and a child. Due to the artists family structure, it provides a reasonable reason for the dynamic of the family of the sculpture. His dedication towards his family played a factor to his strong belief that family is the foundation of the economy. Metaphorically, as an art professor at The University of Texas at Austin for thirty years, Umlauf developed a relationship with the university as his family. Due to this relationship manifested between him and the university, the placement of the sculpture was determined to be at the university, in which he taught. Umlauf’s metaphorical family was the …show more content…
The implicit purpose was formed through the structure of the statue, the gaze of the son and the background of the artist. The first justification for the implied purpose was based on the structure of the sculpture. The holding of the child by the father towards the sky, as an act of sacrifice and giving to God demonstrated the religious charge in the gesture. Furthermore, the act towards divinity by the father is replicated by the son who raises his right hand towards the sky. There is a sharp distinction created by the hand the son raised. In Western religion, there exists a dichotomy between the left-hand and right-hand associated paths of life. The left equates to malicious black magic and the devil. On the other hand, the hand the child chose to raise ̶ the right hand ̶ is associated with pure white magic and God. Therefore, by raising the right hand the child is associating himself with the benevolent power opposed to the treachery of black magic. In addition to the child placing his right palm up, his gaze is also looking above him. By looking towards the sky, the child is implying that there is a presence above him, justifying the belief that Umlauf placed an unseen power in the context of his sculpture. Finally, Umlauf’s background as an artist inspired works with similar themes of family, religion and