This article has no lead section .(April 2024) |
Rayner Hoff | |
---|---|
Born | George Rayner Hoff 27 November 1894 |
Died | 19 November 1937 42) Waverley, New South Wales, Australia | (aged
Known for | sculpture, particularly for war memorials |
Notable work | Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney King George V Memorial, Old Parliament House, Canberra William James Farrer Monument, Queanbeyan |
Signature | |
Hoff was born on the Isle of Man, the son of a stone and wood carver of Dutch descent. He began helping his father on architectural commissions at a very young age and attended the Nottingham School of Art where he studied drawing, design, and modelling, from 1910 to 1915. During World War I, he was in the British Army and fought in the trenches in France, an experience from which he was to draw most passionately in the creation of his various war memorials. Later in the war, he made maps based on aerial photographs.
Returning from the trenches following the War he enrolled in the Royal College of Art in London studying under Francis Derwent Wood for three years. In 1922, Hoff won the British Prix de Rome which allowed him the opportunity to study in Rome. There he did little work in sculpture beyond making sketch models but drew much and mentally studied the many examples of classical and Renaissance art to be found in that country. In May 1923, on the recommendation of Sir George Frampton, R.A., and F. Derwent Wood, R.A., he became director of sculpture and drawing at the East Sydney Technical College (Australia) and set up his private studio. In 1933, he was named the head of the ESTC Art School.
George Rayner Hoff (27 November 1894 – 19 November 1937) was a British-born sculptor who mainly worked in Australia. He fought in World War I and is chiefly known for his war memorial work, particularly the sculptures on the Anzac War Memorial in Sydney. Hoff came to Australia as a young man of 28. He soon adapted himself to Australian conditions, and his quiet, slightly whimsical personality made him generally liked. He was a quick worker and an artist of great originality, although his work, originally based on the Greeks, shows he had paid attention to tradition. He had studied much that was best in Italian work of the Renaissance, the Assyrian friezes, the attempt to retain only the essentials, characteristic of some of the moderns, and the simple sincerity of the Chinese.
His modelling is in a lyrical, classical art-deco manner which effortlessly combines sensuous curves with geometric line patterns.
Hoff's coming to Sydney was a great gain to Australia. He speedily reorganized the school and succeeded in winning the enthusiasm of the students. He became a member of the Society of Artists and later the Sculptors’ Society of Australia, and submitted work to their exhibitions and competitions. In 1924 he designed the Society of Artists' medal, and in 1927 was responsible for sculpture for the National War Memorial at Adelaide. In the same year he was awarded the Wynne prize at Sydney. His best-known works are the figures on the exterior of the Anzac War Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney, the central group in the interior, and the bronze reliefs. The figures on the exterior and the interior group, including Sacrifice, are cited by sculptor, Ron Robertson-Swann as "Sydney's most moving example of publicly visible architecture". [1] Art historian, Professor Virginia Spate, wrote in 1999: "Even incomplete, [it] is the most perfect sculptural monument in Australia." [2] An example of his sculpture associated with architecture is at the University of Sydney, where four medallion portraits of great scientists are on the façade of the physics building.
Rayner also produced a variety of smaller work, built up a fine school of sculpture, and in 1934 was commissioned to design the Victorian centenary medal. His use of a ram's head as the design for one side of it was much criticised, and it is not one of his most successful efforts. At the time of his death on 19 November 1937 he was engaged on the George V Memorial for Canberra. He had recently been commissioned to design part of the new coinage for the Commonwealth, and earlier in 1937 had become an invited foundation member of Robert Menzies' anti-modernist organisation, the Australian Academy of Art. [3]
Among his works is the emblem of the Holden Australian car company, a stylised 'Lion and Stone' symbol representing a legend of man's invention of the wheel.
The Anzac War Memorial, completed in 1934, is the main commemorative military monument in Sydney, designed by C. Bruce Dellit, has an exterior adorned with monumental figural reliefs and sculptures by Rayner Hoff, and is arguably the finest Art Deco structure in Australia.
Hoff died on 19 November 1937, eight days before his 43rd birthday, and was survived by his wife and two daughters. [6]
Lee Oscar Lawrie was an American architectural sculptor and an important figure in the American sculpture scene preceding World War II. Over his long career of more than 300 commissions Lawrie's style evolved through Modern Gothic, to Beaux-Arts, Classicism, and, finally, into Moderne or Art Deco.
Hyde Park, Sydney, is an urban park, of 16.2-hectare (40-acre), located in the central business district of Sydney, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest public parkland in Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern fringe of the Sydney city centre and is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the southern end and rounded at the northern end. It is bordered on the west by Elizabeth Street, on the east by College Street, on the north by St James Road and Prince Albert Road and on the south by Liverpool Street.
The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial and museum dedicated to all Australians who died during war. The AWM is located in Campbell, a suburb of the Australian capital of Canberra. The grounds include five buildings and a sculpture garden. Most of the museum galleries and commemorative areas are contained in the Memorial Building.
The Anzac Memorial is a heritage-listed war memorial, museum and monument located in Hyde Park South near Liverpool Street in the CBD of Sydney, Australia. The Art Deco monument was designed by C. Bruce Dellit, with the exterior adorned with monumental figural reliefs and sculptures by Rayner Hoff, and built from 1932 to 1934 by Kell & Rigby. This state-owned property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 23 April 2010.
Arthur James Murch was an Australian artist who won the Archibald Prize in 1949 with a portrait of Bonar Dunlop. Dunlop was a New Zealand artist sculptor and illustrator.
Charles Bruce Dellit was an Australian architect who pioneered the Art Deco style in Australia. He was generally known as Bruce Dellit.
Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal, usually known as Bertram Mackennal, was an Australian sculptor and medallist, most famous for designing the coinage and stamps bearing the likeness of George V. He signed his work "BM".
Paul Raphael Montford was an English-born sculptor, also active in Australia; winner of the gold medal of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1934.
The Sydney Cenotaph is a heritage-listed monument located in Martin Place, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Bertram Mackennal and built from 1927 to 1929 by Dorman Long & Co. It is also known as Martin Place Memorial and The Cenotaph. It is one of the oldest World War I monuments in central Sydney. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 11 November 2009.
The National War Memorial (South Australia) is a monument on the north edge of the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia that commemorates South Australians who served in the First World War and those who gave their lives. It was opened in 1931. The memorial is on the corner of North Terrace and Kintore Avenue, next to the grounds of Government House. Observances are held at the site throughout the year, with major services on Anzac Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November).
Lilian Daphne Mayo was an Australian artist, most prominently known for her work in sculpture, particularly the tympanum of Brisbane City Hall and the Women's War Memorial in ANZAC Square.
Emil Lawrence Sodersten was an Australian architect active in the second quarter of the 20th century. His work encompassed the Australian architectural styles of Art Deco and Functionalist & Moderne. His design for the Australian War Memorial was "the first national architectural monument in Australia". The Australian Institute of Architects presents the Emil Sodersten Interior Architecture Award annually in his honour.
Gilbert William Bayes was an English sculptor. His art works varied in scale from medals to large architectural clocks, monuments and equestrian statues and he was also a designer of some note, creating chess pieces, mirrors and cabinets.
William Leslie Bowles, commonly referred to as Leslie Bowles or W. Leslie Bowles, was an Australian sculptor and medallist.
Yininmadyemi - Thou didst let fall is a sculptural artwork by Indigenous Australian artist Tony Albert located in Hyde Park, Sydney. Unveiled on 31 March 2015, the artwork acknowledges the service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women in the Australian Defence Force.
The Egyptian Room, Royal Arch Masonic Temple is a heritage-listed Masonic Lodge meeting room at 23-35 New Canterbury Road, Petersham, Inner West Council, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by A. Phipps Coles. Originally built in 1927 for the Scottish Royal Arch Temple in College Street, Sydney, it was re-erected in 1977 at the Royal Arch Temple in Petersham. Craftsmen who worked on the room included Rayner Hoff (sculptor), Charles Everett (decoration) and G. R. Lumb and Sons. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The Paragon Cafe is a heritage-listed restaurant located at 65 Katoomba Street, Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed in successive stages by Harry & Ernest Sidgreaves shopfitters, architects Harry Lindsay Blackwood and George Newton Kenworthy, with decoration by Otto Steen, and built from 1909 to 1940. It is also known as Paragon Restaurant or simply The Paragon. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 March 2015.
Barbara Tribe (1913–2000) was an Australian-born artist who spent most of her career in Cornwall. She is regarded as a significant twentieth-century portrait artist, working both in painting and sculpture.
Orlando Henry Dutton was an English-born Australian monumental, figurative and architectural sculptor.
Lyndon Raymond Dadswell was an Australian artist, remembered as the country's first official war sculptor.