Laocoon | Beverly Pepper

Beverly Pepper

• Date1961
• TechniqueElm wood, bronze, stone base
• Size23x140x98

Laocoon was a Greek mythological figure who was a Trojan priest and due to his defiance was punished by the gods and strangled together with his sons by a snake. This situation has received many interpretations in art in numerous variations. The version by the American sculptor Beverly Pepper presents a combination of wood, marble and bronze to conceptualize the drama of the situation. The unique combination between the three materials is considered to be hard to create. The sculpture presents an interesting contradiction between the warmth of the wood and cold of the metal and the combination of the world of nature with the inanimate to a new, fantastic and even surreal experience.