Wednesday 19 October 2011

Archer

This is East Finchley Underground station (which, as the photo makes plain, is, in fact, above-ground):


A glorious piece of Art Deco loveliness, it features this magnificent piece of public art:


It makes me feel all warm and glowy every time I go past it. Why isn't modern public sculpture of that sort of standard?

1 comment:

Viollet said...

I have seen this style described as "fascist" (presumably because it was in vogue when the Axis powers were in the ascendant) with a clear indication that this makes it illegitimate as art. I don't buy that for a second; but I do wonder whether that idea has had an adverse effect (it would apply to Eric Gill's work too; and I'll do a mischief to anyone who tries to dismiss him) and has made modern sculptors (or the folk who commission them, more likely) shy of forthright, bold statements like the East Finchley archer.