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bronze
Currently on view at Mint Museum--UPTOWN
Gift of Lillian and Derek Ostergard in honor of Pepper and Roddey Dowd
Malvina Hoffman studied in New York with one of America’s leading sculptors of the day, Gutzon Borglum (who created the likenesses at Mount Rushmore, among others), before traveling to Paris to continue her training with legendary French sculptor Auguste Rodin. This bust relates to what is possibly Hoffman’s best-known work, the series of 105 life-size figures representing cultures from around the world, known as “The Races of Mankind,” which was commissioned by the Field Museum in Chicago in 1930. At the time it was the largest bronze sculptural commission in history. Hoffman’s work was celebrated during her lifetime but by the end of the twentieth century she had begun to receive criticism for her somewhat stereotypical renderings of people from different cultures. Seen in the context of the time and spirit in which her work was created, however, sculptures like Cambodian Head are perhaps more accurately interpreted as the artist’s attempt to find beauty, humanity, dignity, and commonalities across peoples from around the world.
Accession Number: 2017.46
Measurements:
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