Pensive Girl - Catford Road, Catford, London, UK
N 51° 26.702 W 000° 01.277
30U E 706988 N 5703525
This is a statue of a girl, deep in thought, outside Lewisham Town Hall in Catford, South London.
Waymark Code: WMF65D
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/29/2012
Views: 1
The sculpture is called 'Pensive Girl' and is by Gerda
Rubinstein. It is situated on a grassed area in front of Lewisham Town Hall on
the north side of Catford Road in Catford.
Th statue is cast from bronze and depicts a life-sized girl
sat on the ground. Her left leg is bent under her right leg with her right foot
being flat on the ground and her right knee upright. Her right elbow is resting
on her right knee and the right side of her face is resting in the crook of the
right elbow. Her left arm is straight down with the hand resting on the
ground.Her eyes are open and she has a smile on her face. She is wearing an
ankle length dress that has a ribbon that is tied behind her back.
The Lewisham Council website [visit
link] tells us:
"Pensive Girl
Artist: Gerda Rubinstein, 1992
Location: Catford Town Hall Commissioned, owned and maintained by Lewisham
Council One of several works in the borough by Gerda
Rubinstein."
The Gerda Rubinstein website [visit link] tells us about
the artist:
"The sculptures that I make have developed from early
carving in stone and then refractory brick, in which I carved negative shapes
into which bronze was poured, to modelling in wax for small work or in clay for
larger pieces, which are then cast in bronze or occasionally in cement or
resin.
My sculptures are almost always of people, often
celebrating something, because I get my inspiration
from where I live. I have
also made portraits and modelled birds, including owls, flamingos and hawks,
cats, dogs, donkeys, goats and other animals when the opportunity has arisen,
such as the 36 Terns for a water sculpture at Dudley.
I enjoy working on a commission and hope that the work,
which is generally figurative, will be self explanatory without the need for a
title: I have come to realise that the sense of freedom and hope that I
experienced as a teenager in Holland after five years of occupation in World War
II has really never left me and that it still colours my
work."