Emily Young's Sculpture Exhibition at Leighton House Museum Critiqued for Technique

Emily Young presented two dozen marble and stone carvings at Leighton House Museum in London from June 13 to July 28, 2001. The exhibition featured archaic torsos and angels in the museum's gardens, drawing comparisons to early 20th-century classicism. Critics noted her work evokes artists like Charles Despiau, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Arturo Martini, and early Constantin Brancusi, with a dignified restraint and clean modernity. However, some pieces were criticized for theatrically achieved fragmentation that resembled vandalism rather than natural decay, recalling Ivan Meštrović or Igor Mitoraj. The setting at Leighton House, the former home of Victorian painter Alfred Lord Leighton, offered a symbolic warning about balancing classicism and taste. Despite flaws, works like 'Sleeping Warrior' displayed powerful simplicity from a distance, with a Buddha-like calm. The artist's approach was described as traditional, serene, and unflashy, avoiding postmodern irony. Her previous shows included exhibitions at Ingleby Gallery in Edinburgh.