Standing Man With Outstretched Arms, 1987, Stephen De Staebler (American 1933- ) bronze, 86.5” x 50.5” x 35.5”

Stephen De Staebler was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in the midwest. He received a Bachelor of Art degree in religious studies from Princeton University and a Master of Art from University of California at Berkeley. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Italy in 1955 to study art history.

De Staebler is best known for his monumental clay sculptures which were an unprecedented technological breakthrough because kiln size had previously limited the size of ceramics. In his later works, the artist began working in bronze, but he still created works in clay and would then cast them in bronze. Bronze allowed him to break the bonds of gravity imposed by the fragile nature of ceramics. De Staebler was interested in the delicate balance of the connec-tions between heaven and earth, and religion and man. He says of his approach to art, "We are all wounded survivors, alive, but devastated selves, fragmented, isolated -- the condition of modern man."

Standing Man With Outstretched Arms is an interesting example of De Staebler’s work in which the artist acheives a delicate balance. The bronze figure with outstreatched arms appears to stand precariously on just one toe. The figure seems battered and worn. The tired expression combined with the outstretched arms lead to an association with Christ, thus calling into play the artist’s interest in explorations of man’s connections to religion.