A method of carving in which the sculptor develops the sculpture directly in the final block of stone or wood rather than reproducing a fully resolved model through pointing or another transfer system.
Direct carving is a method in which the sculptor develops the sculpture directly in the final block of stone or wood rather than reproducing a fully resolved model through pointing or another mechanical transfer system. Drawings, measurements, maquettes, photographs, or reference models may guide the work; what distinguishes direct carving is that the final sculptural form is resolved through the act of carving itself, in continual response to the material.
The term does not mean unplanned or improvised carving. A direct carver may work from extensive preparation. The distinction lies in where the final form is established: in direct carving, decisive formal resolution occurs in the final material rather than being mechanically copied from a completed model.
French: taille directe. Italian: taglio diretto, also encountered in the phrase scultura a taglio diretto.
Etymology
English descriptive term: direct + carving. Closely associated in modern sculpture literature with the French term taille directe.
Sculptor Notes
Direct carving should not be confused with carving without preparation. Drawings, measurements, maquettes, photographs, or a living model may all be used. The defining issue is that the final sculptural form is resolved in the stone or wood itself rather than transferred mechanically from a fully finished model.
References
https://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?subjectid=300053150; https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/direct-carving-modern-sculpture-1890-1940%3Aevent-exhib-1902