Don’t these girls deserve a rest? Apparently not! We recently announced the joyful homecoming of a reaaaaally old work of art — a first-century Roman bas relief still in stunning condition. A high-tech replication of an original tableau of three dancing girls lives once more on Olive Hill, a hilltop retreat dedicated to the arts in Los Angeles. Atop that mound of ground sits Hollyhock House.
The artistic home’s original owner, oil heiress and arts patron Aline Barnsdall, purchased the work from an Islamic art collector and dealer in Paris in 1921.
The piece, along with custom tables, was installed in the loggia of her Frank Lloyd Wright designed-and-built home. Thanks to a high-tech process recreating The Three Nymphs the lovely ladies all dance once more in their exact place in Hollyhock’s loggia.
A happy day for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation happened on November 9 when the sculpted stone had its official unveiling.
The original relief is now owned by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and is currently on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center. Using new technologies, a 3D scan of the replica was made and from that data the copy was milled using computer controls.
The reintroduction of this art treasure reflects an integral part of the storied history of meticulous multi-year restoration of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built Hollyhock House.