| Sculpture
The collection includes
British 20th century
sculpture, (especially
the work of Sir Jacob
Epstein).
There are good examples
of baroque (17th Century)
sculpture, and an outstanding
collection
of Victorian and Edwardian
sculpture.
 |
Aimee
- Jules Dalou (1838
- 1902) Woman
drying her foot,1870's
Location: Gallery
21
Medium: Bronze
This is one of several
studies Dalou made
while living in England
as a political refugee.
Small scale sculptures
of this kind were
modelled direct from
life. They
were part of the
new realistic and
analytical approach
seen in the works
of Degas
and Rodin.
|
 |
Various
sculptures by Degas and Rodin, Example Grande
Arabesque
Location: Gallery 21
Medium: Bronze
This is one of a series of three sculptures of ballet dancers in which Degas
shows successive phases of an arabesque. The dancer is posed on one leg with
arms extended and the other leg raised. This pose seems to ‘open out’ the
sculpture into the surrounding space.The modelling is rough
by 19th century standards.
From the mid-1870s, Degas made hundreds of sketches,
pastels and oil paintings of the dancers of the Paris Ballet. As his eyesight
began to fail towards the
end of his life, he turned increasingly to making sculpture instead of painting.
|
 |
Jill
Crowley (b1946) Big
Blue Hand 1996
Location: Gallery 10
Medium: Stoneware, handbuilt; incised and painted with coloured slips.
The emergence of modern studio ceramics in Britain dates from early 1900's. This
was when the term 'studio potter' was first used to describe makers who took
full responsibility for the production of their work, from design to completion. |
 |
Germaine
Richier (1905 - 1959)
La Feuille (The Leaf),
1948
Location: Gallery 21
The French sculptress Germaine Richier belonged to a generation of post-war sculptors
who did not represent ideally proportioned figures. It was as if the experience
of war left artists unable to depict the human body in anything other than partial
and fractured
form. The leaf-like female figure has the air of a survivor; her sinewy frame
suggests the capacity for endurance. |
 |
Francois
Girardon (1628 -
1715) Louis XIV,
King of France and
Navarre
Location: Gallery 23
Medium: Bronze
This is a small version of a famous statue by Girardon, which was destroyed in
1792 during the French Revolution. |
|
