Philomela

John Gregory

1919–21, cast 1922 · Bronze · Modern and Contemporary Art

In the Greek myth, the gods transformed Philomela into a swallow and her sister Procne into a nightingale. Gregory, however, conformed to later interpretations of the myth and depicted the partially draped Philomela becoming a nightingale, growing highly decorative wings. The crouching figure, posed with remarkable torsion, is rhythmic and stylized, recalling the archaic Greek works admired by Gregory, Paul Manship, and other early-twentieth-century sculptors. The symmetry and frontality of this sculpture may be explained by the installation of the original lifesize Philomela against a garden wall at the estate of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, in Westbury, Long Island.

Artist

John Gregory

Date

1919–21, cast 1922

Medium

Bronze

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1923