Walking the Dog I, II & III

Carved from glacial erratic boulders by the British sculptor Peter Randall-Page, Walking the Dog I, II & III is situated permanently in the Gardens for everyone to enjoy. The sculpture was commissioned in celebration of the Gallery’s bicentenary in 2011 with support from the Art Fund and was our first piece of major contemporary sculpture.

These three granite boulders were carried by a glacier and left stranded in Finland when the ice melted at the end of the last ice age, more than 10,000 years ago.

Peter Randall-Page is often inspired by the study of natural phenomena and worked with the boulders’ original shapes created by millennia of erosion. The artist carved the surfaces with an interlocking pattern evoking the Greek key or ‘meander’ motif. The same motif is found on the frieze (the stone band between the top of the brick walls and the roof) of Sir John Soane’s Dulwich Picture Gallery building.

This meander pattern was a common ornament in ancient Greek and Roman architecture and is named after the Büyük Menderes River in southwestern Turkey that follows a twisting path, doubling back on itself.

About Peter Randall-Page

Peter Randall-Page is one of Britain’s foremost artists for the outdoor environment. He studied sculpture at Bath Academy of Art in 1973–77. Randall-Page has created numerous public sculptures for urban and rural locations throughout the UK and internationally. His other major work in the local area is the façade of the Laboratory at Dulwich College (2016, designed in collaboration with Grimshaw Architects), which won a RIBA National Award and a RIBA London Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was elected a Royal Academician in 2015.
www.peterrandall-page.com