Art doll

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Orlando, mixed-media art doll sculpture Orlando art doll sculpture.jpg
Orlando, mixed-media art doll sculpture

Art dolls are dolls created as works of fine art as opposed to toys.

Contents

History

Art dolls, unlike modern toy dolls, are not mass-produced but rather hand-crafted. [1] Historical dolls, such as kachina dolls and worry dolls, are forms of traditional folk art. In the 20th century, artists such as Hans Bellmer and Louise Bourgeois used dolls as a medium for artistic expression and to promote messages. Bellmer created sexually explicit ball-jointed dolls inspired by wooden dolls from the sixteenth century. [2] Modern art dolls are popular among art collectors. [3]

Selected examples

2008's Melbourne Fringe Festival featured the work of Rachel Hughes and curator Sayraphim Lothian, amongst others. [4] The elaborate ball-jointed ceramic dolls of Marina Bychkova fetch prices from $5,000 to $45,000, and are collected by the likes of Louis Vuitton designers. [5] In 2010, Facebook banned images of an art doll by Bychkova posted by Sydney jeweller Victoria Buckley; included were images of a semi-naked doll used to display jewellery in her shop window. [5] Eco-designer Ryan Jude Novelline created a commemorative art doll from a vintage Barbie recognizing marriage equality in the United States in June 2015. [6]

See also

References

  1. "The Art Doll: A Form of Art You Should Add to Your Collection". HuffPost. 2017-09-22. Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  2. Sims, Nora. "Exploring the birth of Art Dolls". By Gifted Hands. Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  3. "The Art Doll: A Form of Art You Should Add to Your Collection". HuffPost. 2017-09-22. Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  4. "Oh, you inscrutable doll". The Age. September 20, 2008.
  5. 1 2 Moses, Asher (July 5, 2010). "Now Facebook bans doll nipples". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  6. Η Barbie γιορτάζει τον γάμο των ομοφυλόφιλων [Barbie Celebrates Gay Marriage], pathfinder.gr (in Greek), June 29, 2015, archived from the original on June 29, 2015, retrieved June 29, 2015

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