![Three nude male bronze figures with white painted faces, displayed outdoors.](https://yorkshire-ysp.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/Exhibitions/Current-Exhibtions/DSC0235.jpg?w=772&h=290&q=100&auto=format&fit=crop&crop=focalpoint&fp-x=0.4731&fp-y=0.1929&dm=1721658739&s=251c84b5e9e877fbf72362c3da51433f)
Elisabeth Frink: Riace II, III and IV
Art Outdoors /Elisabeth Frink: Riace II, III and IV
The Riace figures are inspired by the 5th century BCE bronze sculptures that were rediscovered in the sea off the coast of the Riace region of Italy in 1972. Frink said ‘the original figures are very beautiful, but also very sinister, and that is what they are supposed to be’.
Frink had often used masks and goggles to conceal eyes and hide true expressions. She began experimenting with painting the faces of her figures in the early 1980s as a way of introducing colour and drawing our attention to their ambiguous features. These masks, she said later, are ‘a way of showing that their beauty in a sense hides what they are up to’.
An exhibition of Frink’s sculpture, prints and plaster models – Natural Connection – is on display at The Weston until 23 February 2025.
Courtesy The Frink Estate and Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
You may also like
- Art Outdoors
William Turnbull: Ancestral Figure
The shape of Ancestral Figure could be a tablet containing written information, or a tombstone marking a grave. The surface is covered with shapes, lines, ridges and grooves. These might be facial features but they also resemble ancient symbols and languages. - Art Outdoors
Elisabeth Frink: Protomartyr
Protomartyr represents the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen, who provided food and aid to poor members of his community in Jerusalem. - Art Outdoors
Elisabeth Frink: Standing Man
- Art Outdoors
Elisabeth Frink: Seated Man II
Seated Man II relates strongly to Frink’s larger-than-life Riace figures.