Walking the Dog I, II & III

To mark the 200th anniversary of England's oldest public art gallery, the Art Fund purchased Peter Randall-Page's sculpture Walking the Dog, I, II & III and presented it to Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2010. The sculpture, unveiled as part of the Gallery's Bicentenary celebrations, provides a permanent focal point in its four-acre public garden. One of Britain's foremost artists, Peter Randall-Page is pre-eminent as a sculptor for the outdoor environment. He created the sculpture after a visit to the Gallery when he was inspired by the architecture of Sir John Soane's 1811 Gallery building and its natural setting. The Gallery's architecture is "magnificent in its proportion and simplicity," he said, "and I noticed that almost the only overt decorative feature is the angular 'running dog' type frieze which circumnavigates the building." Beginning with three naturally-eroded granite glacial boulders, Randall-Page has carved their surfaces to reflect Soane's frieze around the building. The three closely-related sculptures, composed in a tight group, reflect the Gallery's three founders, Mr and Mrs Noel Desenfans and Sir Peter Bourgeois. Walking the Dog I, II & III is the first work of contemporary sculpture in the Gallery's permanent collection.