National Galleries of Scotland

2006

GMA 4821

This enormous sculpture by Mueck measures just over five metres in length and captures a newly delivered baby in her first glimpse of the surrounding world. Mueck exploits scale to affect the viewer’s perception of his sculptures. In creating this gigantic new born baby he uses scale as an expressive device to enhance and bring to the fore both the trauma and the miracle of birth. In her first stretch from the foetal position she clenches her fists and toes with the umbilical cord, which once supplied her with life, hanging limply. Her squashed and battered body, smeared with traces of blood, reveals the reality of the ordeal which we have all experienced but do not recall. Mueck’s sculptures deliberately stir emotions and encourage the viewers to consider the human body anew.

• Material: Mixed media (edition of 1 plus A/P)
• Size: 110.50 x 501.00 x 134.50 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland
• © The Artist

1969

GMA 4545

The materials used in the making of this work relate to Beuys's experience of being rescued by nomadic Tartars when his plane was shot down during the Second World War. Fat was rubbed into his body and he was wrapped in felt to keep him warm. The sled looks as if it has been prepared for an expedition or in response to an emergency, with a survival kit strapped to it. The flashlight represents the sense of orientation, the felt is protective, and the fat is for food.

• Material: Wooden sled, felt, belts, flashlight, fat and rope
• Size: 35.00 x 90.00 x 35.00 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland
• © DACS 2004

1959

GMA 1108

The experience of growing up during the war years strongly affected Frink’s sculpture. This work is one of a number of bronzes, executed in the 1950s, in which animal forms are given a menacing, military appearance. Although only thirty-eight centimetres high, this bird appears simultaneously aggressive, powerful and like a damaged but defiant survivor of a nuclear attack. Typical of the sculptor’s early work, the distressed, textured surface and spindly, striding legs of the bird recall the work of Giacometti, who Frink cited as a great influence.

• Material: Bronze
• Size: 38.00 x 37.20 x 25.30 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland
• © The Estate of Elisabeth Frink, Beaux Arts London

1962

GMA 4882

During the 1960s Nicholson returned to producing relief works in a similar vein to those he had made in the 1930s. This work comprises carved board with a painted surface and graphite lines. Nicholson has, however, scraped off much of the warm white paint, to create a worn, textured surface. The composition includes an exact circle, which offers a stillness against the surrounding, irregular shaped forms. Although distinctly abstract, at this time Nicholson’s reliefs were often inspired by the landscape. The title refers to a visit Nicholson made to Paros in Greece in autumn 1961. With this in mind the two blocks of blue colour call to mind a clear, Mediterranean sky.

• Material: Oil and pencil on carved board
• Size: (framed: 31.00 x 37.00 cm)
• National Galleries of Scotland
• © Angela Verren Taunt 2009. All rights reserved, DACS

1970

GMA 2132

Hanson cast his sculptures from real people. The male and female figures seen here were cast one after the other in the artist's studio and the models never even met. Hanson preferred to make sculptures of people who would not normally be represented in a gallery but are instantly familiar, such as the overweight, unattractive or badly dressed. His figures exude a normality with which we can all identify. The 'Tourists' are caricatures of the stereotypical American tourists: comical and full of pathos at the same time. Like most of Hanson's figures, they are caught off guard and are therefore unaware of the gaze of the viewer.

• Material: Polyester resin and fibreglass, painted in oil, and mixed media
• Size: Man 152.00 x 80.50 x 31.00 cm; Woman 160.00 x 44.00 x 37.00 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland
• © Estate of Duane Hanson/VAGA, New York/DACS, London 2004

2004

AR00165

LeWitt was seminal in establishing the notion of ‘Conceptual art’ during the 1960s. This work is one of a number of highly coloured wall pieces he made in the last years of his life. Described simply as ‘curved and straight coloured bands’, it includes seven vibrant colours to create an overwhelming chromatic environment that envelopes the viewer. Nine weaving bands interrupt vertical lines and add a sense of playfulness. Although this dynamism suggests an element of chance, LeWitt’s works are created according to precise instructions that regulate details such as the sequence of colours and width of bands.

• Material: Paint on wall
• Size: As installed
• National Galleries of Scotland
• © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2009

1939 - 1940

GMA 3602

This is the first in a long series of sculptures by Moore to feature one form enclosed within another. A strange figure stands inside the helmet which is half-protective and half-menacing. There are several sources for this piece. It relates to Moore's mother-and-child drawings in which the child is protected by the mother's arms. It also relates to his drawings of shells, in which a complex internal structure is contained within a simpler outer form. Moore was also involved with Surrealism at this period, and was influenced by the idea of the mind being an independent 'being' contained within a head. More specifically, in 1937, Moore had made studies of an ancient Greek helmet with eye-like holes pierced in the top.

• Material: Lead
• Size: 29.10 x 18.00 x 16.50 cm (excluding base)
• National Galleries of Scotland
• © The Henry Moore Foundation. Image must not be reproduced or altered without prior consent from the Henry Moore Foundation.