Three Standing Figures at Battersea Park, London

myminifactory

This group, created in 1947-48, was not designed with the intention of occupying its current spot in Battersea Park. The project was already underway when the Contemporary Art Society approached me about commissioning it. I had previously received a request from the Museum of Modern Art in New York for a large work, and this commission influenced my decision to carve the group from Darleydale stone, which would hold up well to weathering and remain clean in the sea air of New York. However, I anticipated that in the smoke-filled atmosphere of London, particularly near Battersea Power Station, the stone would gradually darken over time, potentially taking on a pleasing appearance when nearly black. At present, though, it appears rather dirty due to its transitional state. Yet, there's no need to be overly concerned about its surface condition for the next few years... When the Contemporary Art Society decided to offer it to the London County Council Parks Committee, The Museum of Modern Art agreed to wait for a large work, and later they acquired a cast of the Stevenage Family Group. The three figures were initially placed in their current location when they were showcased in the first open-air sculpture exhibition at Battersea Park, but they had to be relocated because the tree adjacent to one of them was rotten, and after it was felled, the site lost some of its charm. However, I was thrilled about that original setup. The slight incline overlooking an open area of park and the backdrop of trees accentuated their outward and upward gaze into space. They embody the feeling I aimed to capture in my shelter drawings, although my previous experience with relating separate sculptural units involved more abstract forms; bringing these three figures together required creating a unified human mood. The prevailing theme of the shelter drawings was the group sense of communion among the three figures... I wanted to layer this with a sense of release and create figures conscious of being in the open air, giving them a lifted gaze for scanning distances.