New Sculpture

[1][2] After a protracted period of a stylized neoclassicism, sculpture in the last quarter of the century began to explore a greater degree of naturalism and wider range of subject matter.

It reflected his interest in a more dynamic and vibrant representation of the human body and a shift from easily legible and didactic subject matter.

Whereas the major French alternative to mid-19th-century sculpture, Auguste Rodin, increasingly left the accurate representation of the human body behind, the New Sculptors by and large chose to grapple with issues arising from the naturalistic representation of the body and the detailed rendering of its surface variations.

A small exhibition dedicated to the New Sculpture was held at Tate Britain during the summer and early autumn of 2010.

Works on display included Pandora by Harry Bates, Mother Teaching Child and three small bronzes by Alfred Gilbert, The Singer, Applause and Folly by Edward Onslow Ford, Lycidas by James Havard Thomas, The Sluggard by Frederic Leighton and The Nymph of Loch Awe by F.W.