Striding Man Sculpture In Forecourt Of William Penn School

TQ3274 636-1/14/889 15/04/98

SOUTHWARK RED POST HILL (South West side) "Striding Man" sculpture in forecourt of William Penn School

II

Sculpture. Commissioned 1959, installed 1962, sculptor Oliffe Richmond. Bronze, six feet high on concrete plinth. A tall, stooping figure that displays different qualities from different angles, with its claw-like feet, knotted and elongated legs, hunched back and heavy burden. The tension of movement caught in stasis recalls Rodin's headless 'L'Homme qui Marche', while the battered, vulnerable form and striated surface is reminiscent of the work of Giacometti. Richmond (1919-1977) came from Tasmania in 1948 and later worked for Henry Moore before embarking on a teaching career. His work is not well known, but this is one of the outstanding pieces commissioned by the London County Council, the leading patron of public art in the period 1945-65.

Listing NGR: TQ3291774693