“There is a genuine spirit in the way Hebald conceives a swing band or a dancer and the conception is carried out in fresh, sculptural terms” (Getlein, Frank. Milton Hebald. A Studio Book. The Viking Press. New York. 1971). These works seemed to have flowed from his surroundings of Rome and through his fingers to the clay or wood.  Hebald’s major influences comes from Canova and Bernini; he was entranced by Canova’s nearly life-sized marble of the semi-recumbent Pauline Buonaparte Borghese portrayed as Venus. Her translucent drapery alluding to her nude body below strongly influenced the way Hebald portrayed all of his figures whether male or female.  This particular influence is found in Hebald’s bronze Paolina and in Far Niente, which he created in wood, bronze, and terracotta. There are few works where the drapery flowing around and off the human figure are absent.  In Raccolta/Harvest, the beauty of the piece is in the marvelous swinging lines. The rhythm of the mother’s body movement showing through her dress that also shows the complex curves of the sculpture. The curves of the overhead branch is reversed in the curve of the child’s leg. The curve of the mother’s dress and hem of her skirt that cling to her body also follow the curvature of her outreached arms towards her child.  Hebald celebrates the beauty of swinging lines and drapery. In Homage to the Baroque there are no major lines of separation, there are no upward thrusts with repeating curvatures in both the movement and drapery as in Raccolta/Harvest.  But in Homage to the Baroque, the lines and natural folds of drapery are like falling curves of water. The fabric swoops softly across her belly and breasts in large repeating inversed arches.

Woman With Drapery II is one of the best known examples of Hebald’s mastery of the Baroque period’s fascination with drapery and repeating elegant lines in fabric. This piece incorporates not just the fullness of the figure’s fabric, but her hair is integrated as part of the full movement fully encircling her body without distinguishing between her hair and drapery.  

However, not all of Hebald’s figurative work was ensconced in drapery and flowing illusions of fabric. Handstand, Melancholy Baby, Five Foot Two, Molly Seated are nude figures that celebrate the human body in its musculature, motions or emotions, folds, and curves that have fascinated sculptors and artists for centuries.   In Handstand, Hebald not only created a figure that is in motion, but allows us to see how the muscles work whilst in such movement.   The figure is static but does not look like it is; instead it looks like the male figure will complete the full motion of this acrobatic.   This is true of most of Hebald’s work.  In Melancholy Baby, the figure sits on a stool, head in hand and a face of extreme sadness, she exudes her mood as if you could hear her sighing  deeply and if you were to wait, you would hear another sigh or see the roll of a tear down her face.

Many of Hebald’s work give the illusion of motion. Whether the figure is being acrobatic, dancing, standing in the wind, either the figure is “moving” or some other force, such as wind, water, or tree roots are creating the sensation of movement while the figure is engaged with that movement.   Even Hebald’s bas reliefs figures at P.S.86 (Queens, NY) and Peaceable Kingdom (United Nations Children’s School) have a sense of the figures being engaged in some activity showing movement.

As with any sculptor or artist from the Renaissance or Baroque periods, myths or Biblical themes have always been a part of their work. Because the Vatican was the main patron of many of the world’s greatest Western art, the commissioned work was always premised on Biblical allegories, such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Teresa or Michelangelo Buonarroti’s The Pieta.  Commissions by the Medici or other merchant families often depicted Greek or Roman myths such as the Tomb of Lorenzo di Medici, Duke of Urbino, Dusk and Dawn or Antonio Canova’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa.   Mr. Hebald also followed in the great tradition of sculptors who came before him.  In a series of fountains Hebald sought to capture the myths of Neptune, the Sirens and Mermaids, as well as a nod to the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark.  Of his grouped figures The Three Graces pays homage to the myth of the beautiful young girls who stand together. Each figure is gracefully woven together between their arms and legs and their flowing hair is linked together by the wind.   It is not unlike Antonio Canova’s The Three Graces whose marble bodies fuse together and are draped in soft cloth.

Many of the great works of art are also taken from literature; Rodin created many works based on Dante’s Divine Comedy.  As a budding artist Mr. Hebald, like Delacroix, illustrated what he read as a young boy. He was influence by Walt Whitman, Shakespeare, James Joyce and many others.  However, what captured Hebald’s work the most were the writings of James Joyce, in particular Ulysses. From his passion of his reading Ulysses, Hebald created a group of figures based on the characters and events in the story.   Hebald was drawn in by Ulysses because it had a similar construction of verse and telling of the story as in the Odyssey. The allusions to the Zodiac and Greek characters such as Prometheus, the word play, puns, and syntax all drove Hebald to translate Joyce’s work into sculpture.   He recreated and brought to life Joyce’s characters such as Penelope/Molly in Molly Seated as well as Calypso (aka Bloom and his Cat), Prometheus, Circe and Cyclops.  Additionally, in his ultimate homage to Joyce, he was commissioned by the Joyce family to create a life-sized statue to commemorate James Joyce’s grave in Zurich, Switzerland.  

Likewise, Hebald’s love of Shakespeare is evoked in two of Central Park’s most iconic statues: Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest. Both of these pieces stand taller than life-size outside the Delacourt Theater. The Tempest with the wind blowing through him as if he is commanding events in the park. Romeo and Juliet stand tall and closed off from those who may peer into their love, impassioned by their last kiss.