Cycladic Art > a bronze age beauty on display in USA

  A Female Figure, 16 1/4 inches X 55/8 inches, attributed to the Bastis Master, in display at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, USA.

The particular female figure has that mid-century modern look of stripped-to-the-bones attenuation with only the barest suggestion of features, except for a very prominent nose. On first glance, it’s almost impossible to think of her as antique, but she is very, very old. She’s a Bronze Age beauty, created circa 2500-2300 B.C.

Works like this were found in burial sites in Greece’s Cyclades islands, but their function is unknown. “Bastis”, by the way, was not the name of the actual artist, it’s the surname of a donor who gave a similar sculpture to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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