The Striding Man
Restoration of the sculpture
The Charter School, Dulwich was originally called William Penn School and opened as a new secondary comprehensive boys school in 1958. The Striding Man was commissioned in 1959 by the London County Council’s Patronage of the Arts Scheme at the cost of £1,200 and was originally erected in 1962 in the school’s central courtyard, facing the assembly hall. The inspiration for the sculpture was the school’s namesake, William Penn (1644-1718), the Quaker, writer and religious thinker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania. Penn was known for his amicable relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Native Americans who had resided in present-day Pennsylvania prior to European settlements. Its sculptor Oliffe Richmond was paid £100. Richmond produced a series of sketches and maquettes prior to creating the 6 foot high piece in bronze. He produced a second bronze, known as Striding Man II (1961) which is in the Kroller-Muller Museum in The Netherlands. It is very similar but less abstract in form.
Oliffe Richmond (1919-1977) was born in Tasmania. After studying art he was apprenticed to a stonemason and became influenced by the ‘modernistic’ sculpture. He moved to London in 1948 to the RCA and worked as Henry Moore’s assistant. In 1956 he succeeded Moore as a teacher in sculpture at Chelsea School of Art and began to build his own career as a sculptor. When his first solo showing was held, at the Molton Gallery, London, the critic Edward Lucie-Smith commented: ‘it is not very often that an artist springs on us more or less fully fledged’. His work suggests intense human energy and inner tension and has been described as ‘heroic and monumental.’
The National Heritage List for England highlights the importance of Richmond’s sculpture both in his individual portfolio but within the wider history of twentieth-century public art: ‘[Richmond’s] work is not well known, but this is one of the outstanding pieces commissioned by the London County Council…The Striding Man is a tall, stooping figure that displays different qualities from different angles, with its claw-like feet, knotted and elongated legs, hunched back and heavy burden. The tension of movement caught in stasis recalls Rodin's headless 'L'Homme qui Marche', while the battered, vulnerable form and striated surface is reminiscent of the work of Giacometti.’
The sculpture was moved in the early 2000s to a new location outside the back school offices and exposed to the weather. Wax can be found on some parts of the bronze but has weathered away in large areas and green corrosion is visible. Hairline cracks can be found in both legs and records show that a stainless steel armature was introduced to the bronze in 2002 to strengthen it and this armature bridges the areas that are cracked. The cracks are visually distracting and will be a point of water ingress that will lead to future corrosion. The project will include cleaning the bronze to remove the remains of degraded black wax and pollutants, a light chemical patination over the green patina, the intention being to visually unify the sculpture while still retaining the appearance of a well-cared for aged patination. The cracks will be filled, wax applied and buffed. The statue will then be relocated on a new concrete plinth in a new prominent location in front of the entrance to the school.