Germaine Richier
© National Portrait Gallery, London
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Germaine Richier
by Ida Kar
2 1/4 inch square film negative, 1954
Purchased, 1999
Photographs Collection
NPG x132960
Sitterback to top
- Germaine Richier (1902-1959), French sculptor and engraver. Sitter in 10 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Ida Kar (1908-1974), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 1567 portraits, Sitter in 137 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Writing about this portrait taken in Richier's studio in Montparnasse, with Hurricane Woman (1948-9), Kar noted: 'I was struck by the extraordinary resemblance of her figure next to her work, and simply recorded it.'
Linked publicationsback to top
- Freestone, Clare (appreciation) Wright, Karen (appreciation), Ida Kar Bohemian Photographer, 2011 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 10 March to 19 June 2011), p. 76 Read entry
Richier studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Montpellier and with the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle in Paris (1926-9). Richier's approach was classical but her themes were fantastical, combining human and animal forms from 1940. In 1934 Richier had her first solo exhibition in Paris. Her post-war sculptures, such as Hurricane Woman (1948-9), with which she appears in Kar's portrait, can be read as expressions of humanity under threat. Bill Hopkins wrote that 'The sculpting of a subject's atmosphere - in this case controlled violence - is the outstanding Factor in her success as a "realist" ... Germaine Richier is that phenomenon - a successful woman in sculpture. Meeting her, one senses a masculine objectivity married to an ultra-femininity, that most particular property of Parisians.' Richier married the art critic René de Solier in the year of this portrait and the following year had a major exhibition at London's Hanover Gallery. Writing about this portrait, taken in the sitter's Paris studio, Kar noted ‘I was struck by the extraordinary resemblance of her figure next to her work, and simply recorded it.'
Events of 1954back to top
Current affairs
Roger Bannister runs the four-minute mile. Bannister was the first man to achieve the 'miracle mile', a feat that was thought by some to be impossible, beating his rival, the Australian John Landy, to the record. Bannister went on to a career as a distinguished neurologist.Food rationing ends in Britain.
Art and science
J.R.R. Tolkien publishes the first two parts of the Lord of the Rings trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Tolkien was an Oxford professor of Anglo-Saxon language and literature and drew on his scholarly interests in history, language and mythology to create the fictional land of Middle Earth where the books are set.Williams Golding publishes, Lord of the Flies.
International
The South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) is established in Bangkok. This international defence organisation was established as part of the 'containment' policy of limiting the influence of communism. SEATO was, however, found to be ineffective as the member organisations failed to agree on combined action; it was disbanded in 1977.Comments back to top
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