A Youthful Faun, ca. 1920

Arthur George Walker RA (1861 - 1939)

RA Collection: Art

‘A Youthful Faun’ was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1926. The sculpture’s focus on youth and beauty may be related both to European Symbolism and the New Sculpture movement.

Arthur George Walker (1861-1939) entered the R.A. Schools in 1883 and exhibited paintings and sculpture at the R.A. from 1884-1937. He sculpted in a range of materials including stone, marble, ivory, silver, gold, ebony and teak and frequently combined several materials in one work.

Although Walker's output appears to have been extensive, his work is not as well documented as that of many of his "New Sculpture" contemporaries. The height of Walker's career coincided with a period when the market for statuettes and sculptures of ideal subjects was expanding dramatically. His bronze statue ‘The Thorn’ (1896) was purchased for the Glyptotek, Copenhagen and later made in statuette form, ‘Sleep’ was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1902 and 'Christ at the Whipping Post' purchased for the Tate Gallery through the Chantrey Bequest in 1925.