Rayner Hoff
(United Kingdom, Australia 1894–1937)
- Title
- Australian Venus
- Year
- (circa 1927)
- Media category
- Sculpture
- Materials used
- Angaston marble
- Dimensions
-
114.5 x 33.0 x 21.0cm
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of Mr S.H. Ervin 1938
- Accession number
- 6549
- Location
- 20th & 21st c Australian art
- Further information
In Hoff's artistic practice, the body became the primary metaphor for a modern Australian identity, based on the classical perfections of the ancient Greek model, and imaged as a virile product of the nation’s outdoor environment. Australian Venus exemplifies Hoff’s ‘national body’. It presents the figure as a classically fragmented yet sensualised, naturalistic form, and imbued with a sexual tension with which Hoff defined the entire path of his sculptural oeuvre.
- Bibliography (6)
-
Elizabeth Cross (Australia, b.1943) (Author), The Naked and the Nude, Ballarat, 2008, 23, 89 (colour illus.), 133.
Isobel Crombie (Australia) (Author), Body culture: Max Dupain, photography and Australian culture, 1919-1939, Mulgrave, 2004, 118, 119 (colour illus.), 120.
Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, Domain, 2002, 64 (colour illus.), 65, 69, 144, 147.
Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), 'This vital flesh': the sculpture of Rayner Hoff and his school, Domain, 1999, 31, 33 (colour illus.), 34, 38-39, 102. cat.no. 22
Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), Stampede of the Lower Gods: Classical Mythology in Australian Art, Domain, Sep 1989, 40 (illus.), 65.
'"This vital flesh": the 1920s sculpture of Rayner Hoff' by Deborah Edwards, pg. 62-68., Art and Australia (Vol. 24, No. 1) Spring 1986, Spring 1986, 63 (illus.), 65.
- Exhibition history (6)
-
Sculpture of Rayner Hoff: Memorial Exhibition, David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, 19 May 1938–04 Jun 1938.
Celebrity Choice - Sam Neill, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 Jan 1987–08 Feb 1987.
Stampede of the Lower Gods: Classical Mythology in Australian Art 1890's-1930's, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 19 Oct 1989–26 Nov 1989.
'This vital flesh': the sculpture of Rayner Hoff and his school, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 26 Nov 1999–16 Jan 2000.
Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003.
The naked and the nude, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, 13 Sep 2008–07 Dec 2008.
