A LONELY ENIGMA AT THE HEART OF THE BOTANICS
This month sees the welcome return of Reg Butler’s bronze sculpture 'Girl' to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE).
The work has been reinstated at its original location as a feature of the pond outside Inverleith House.
'Girl' was one of the earliest and most prominently sited acquisitions made by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA), and was on loan here between 1960 and 1984.
Butler, a British artist, created several sculptures of a life-size female figure, including another sculputure called 'Girl', which is held by the Tate Gallery.
This one is a beautiful piece. It is suggestive and lonely, and its positioning in the middle of the pond leaves me wondering what she is doing and what she is thinking.
The Garden is already home to some wonderful and varied pieces of art including two sculptures by Barbara Hepworth (also on loan from the SNGMA) and Andy Goldsworthy’s 'Slate, Hole, Wall', which I hope to highlight here in the future.
With plans afloat for Antony Gormley's 'Six Times' to be returned to the Water of Leith, Broughton’s public art collection is looking better and better. —Rhys Fullerton
