Venus

Description

Notes by Henghes written on the completion of this work:
Venus, finished May 1946 after almost 3 1/2 months work is so far the largest stonecarving I have done. I stole the block which was lying in a garage by claiming to the tenant that it was mine. It is lovely, gray crystalline marble. This and the bust done a year ago are the beginning of a new humanism in my work. I have given up abstraction for good now in this and through venus I have satisfied myself of the promise of new life in this retour a l'aube which I will make the tenor of the future. The work has exhausted me. I feel tired and indifferent because of the let up of nervous strain the work on this statue has been. It now stands calm and poised in my studio in a silence of its own and I cannot yet judge this venus.