This muscular, indeed almost muscle-bound figure is a printer. I met a few printers in the dying days of Fleet Street and frankly none were at all like this. Too much indulgence in late night beer and meat pies.
But I mustn't carp. It is a beautiful sculpture, Youth, by Wilfred Dudeney, commissioned in 1955 to stand in front of the headquarters of the Starmer Group, owners of local newspapers across the north country.
Dudeney was an academic and teacher, and this statue is a lovely example of the figurative tradition advanced by modern influences. It is hard to imagine what Henry Moore or Elizabeth Frink might have said about it.
The world it represents has vanished totally. The printers have disappeared and the newspapers are fast following them down the plughole of destiny. Pemberton House itself has been converted into flats for bankers and lawyers. We live in degenerate times.
1 comment:
I donºt know about degenerate times - definitely destructive and wasteful times. I realise "the printers have disappeared and the newspapers are fast following them down the plughole of destiny". But good buildings can be recycled and renovated for newer uses (as you noted) and the decorative arts retained to reflect their original eras of creativity.
Hels
Art and Architecture, mainly
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