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View at the museum ↗Kneeling Youth
George Minnec. 1900
- Attribution
- George Minne (Belgian, 1866–1941)
- Medium
- Plaster
- Physical dimensions
- 73.7 × 16.5 × 35.6 cm (29 × 6 1/2 × 14 in.)
- Credit line
- Gift of Celia and David C. Hilliard
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Source rights statement: Public-domain image eligibility not established by this export
View the museum record ↗From the museum
A gaunt young man kneels with his head lowered and his arms wrapped tightly around himself. His posture indicates physical and psychological self-enclosure, but it is unclear whether the composition embodies grief, resignation, torment, or even languor. Sculptor George Minne was celebrated in his lifetime for skillfully conveying of emotional states. This work’s ambiguity reflects the artist’s interest in Symbolism, a movement that prized indeterminate meaning and personal interpretation. This plaster was probably included in the 1900 Vienna Secession exhibition, a key venue for the display of avant-garde art and design.
Description: Art Institute of Chicago · CC BY 4.0