The Heart of Frederick Hart

When Frederick Hart--who was affectionately called "Rick" by his close friends--was about 18 in 1963 in Atlanta, he was visited by an angel.  Since then, his artwork shows a propensity for expressing spirituality.  One of his more recent works, called "Dreams: Visions and Visitations," reflects this sense of sanctity in his finely crafted lucite acrylic sculptures.  Lucite acrylics are flawlessly transparent sculptures that are so clear that they look like glass or crystal.  Observers of his work feel their breaths snatched away at the vision of the hauntingly beautiful, finely formed figures embedded inside the mold.

In Hart's "Visions" series, he started in 1992 with "Echo of Silence" which is a 22" high acrylic resin displaying a woman rolled into a fetal position at the base, and a transparent, almost ghost-like form hovering over her.  Then, in 1993, Hart went on to create the second and third forms in the series: "Winged Vision" and "Dreamers"--both of which are 16" high.  "Winged Vision" features a male angel streaming past a female in the supine position, while "Dreamers" creates an illusion of a woman asleep.  Then in 1995, Hart molded his final piece in the series, "Reverie," which is a 15" acrylic sculpture of a man's face offset by the figure a woman asleep.  Interestingly, though, the sculpted face of this man looks much like the face of the angel in "Winged Vision."  Also of note is that Hart has sculpted women in each of these pieces, and yet it was he--a male--who had the visit by the angel.

All of Hart's sculptures begin with a clay model that, after perfection, are then cast either into bronze or the lucite acrylic, of which he has patented his own embedding process.  He often sculpts in life-size, one-third life size, or maquette size which may be anywhere from several inches to over a foot tall.  When galleries apply to Hart's publisher to buy, display and sell his work, those galleries must be accepted by the dealer representing him.  If they are, they're given an exclusive territory to feature Hart's work.

Though Hart  was what was termed an "Emerging Artist," he was still well known for two major achievements: The sculpting of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982--the most visited monument in the nation's capital which features three young, anguished solders done in bronze--and the 1971 Creation Sculptures, titled "Ex Nihilo," which combines the metamorphosis of divine spirit and exploding energy.  This work is featured above the main entrance of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.