His art embodies Renaissance ideals of blending classical beauty with naturalism.
Meet David Foster, South Lake Tahoe Sculptor.
Without a doubt, Foster has had a profound influence in bringing art to South Shore and Lake Tahoe.
Over the years, David’s art career has escalated to international prominence.
One look at his marble sculptures and you can see the effect of the great European masters, specifically the study of the human body such as his rendition of the Pietà shown here.
Foster, who started the Art Program at the Lake Tahoe Community College in 1975, is finally seeing his vision and dreams come to life following years of dedication and personal commitment.
In the 1970’s, David worked with architects to design the art studios and classrooms at the college. Additionally, he developed the entire curriculum for the department, and taught several courses ranging from Art History to Bronze Casting. He created the LTCC international study-abroad program in 1995 allowing students to study art history, architecture, drawing, painting and photography at major museums and historical sites in Italy, France and Greece.
He was also instrumental in the opening of Haldan Art Gallery in 2007 and considers it to be the capstone to his long-term vision for the LTCC art program.
Although he retired from the academic world in June 2008, David spends his time sculpting marble either in Pietrasanta, Italy, a small town well known for breeding carvers including Michelangelo, or at his personal art gallery in South Shore.
Artist’s Statement:
As a visual artist I am always studying and evaluating life and the world around me. My art is a response to these observations.
I find the human figure to be the most compelling form in nature and it is a primary source of inspiration for my bronze, marble and terra-cotta sculpture. The human figure provides for me an endless resource for design possibilities through observation and study of its muscle-skeletal structure and formal surface relationships. The figure also possesses intrigue of content and context resulting from the power of its intellect, expression, feeling and spirit.
Like the work of the Classical Greeks, my sculpture seeks an ideal. And, like the Classical Greeks, my approach is quite formalistic in my concern for proportion, contrapposto and spatial presence. Unlike the Classical Greeks, however, my sculpture uses the figure as both a source and a departure for exploring abstract form. I strongly emphasize invention as I reference the figure utilizing the design elements of line and contour, shape, form, texture and movement. In this formalist method, considerable energy is addressed on manipulating these elements and adjusting them to produce a dynamic three-dimensional expression.
Click here to visit his website and to learn more about David Foster.
Featured Works: Pietà and Repose