George Rayner Hoff (27 November 1894 – 19 November 1937) was a British-born

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

who mainly worked in Australia. He fought in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and is chiefly known for his war memorial work, particularly the sculptures on the

ANZAC War Memorial The Anzac Memorial is a heritage-listed war memorial, museum and monument located in Hyde Park South near Liverpool Street in the CBD of Sydney, Australia. The Art Deco monument was designed by C. Bruce Dellit, with the exterior adorned wi ...

in Sydney.

Early life and training

Hoff was born on the

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, the son of a stone and wood carver of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

descent. He began helping his father on architectural commissions at a very young age and briefly attended the Nottingham School of Art where he studied drawing, design, and modelling, from 1910 to 1915. During

, he was in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and fought in the trenches in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, an experience from which he was to draw most passionately in the creation of his various war memorials. Later in the war, he made maps based on

aerial photographs Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...

. Returning from the trenches following the War he enrolled in the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

studying under

Francis Derwent Wood Francis Derwent Wood (15 October 1871– 19 February 1926) was a British sculptor. Biography Early life Wood was born at Keswick in Cumbria and studied in Germany and returned to London in 1887 to work under Édouard Lantéri and Sir Thomas ...

for three years. In 1922, Hoff won the

British Prix de Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture. History The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK Royal Charter in 1912. Its mission is " ...

which allowed him the opportunity to study in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. There he did little work in sculpture beyond making sketch models but drew much and mentally studied the many examples of classical and Renaissance art to be found in that country. In May 1923, on the recommendation of Sir George Frampton, R.A., and F. Derwent Wood, R.A., he became director of sculpture and drawing at the East Sydney Technical College ( Australia) and set up his private studio. In 1933, he was named the head of the ESTC Art School.

Australian work

Hoff came to Australia as a young man of 28. He soon adapted himself to Australian conditions, and his quiet, slightly whimsical personality made him generally liked. He was a quick worker and an artist of great originality, although his work, originally based on the Greeks, shows he had paid attention to tradition. He had studied much that was best in Italian work of the Renaissance, the Assyrian friezes, the attempt to retain only the essentials, characteristic of some of the moderns, and the simple sincerity of the Chinese. His modelling is in a lyrical, classical art-deco manner which effortlessly combines sensuous curves with geometric line patterns. Hoff's coming to Sydney was a great gain to Australia. He speedily reorganized the school and succeeded in winning the enthusiasm of the students. He became a member of the Society of Artists and sent work to their exhibitions. In 1924 he designed their medal, and in 1927 was responsible for sculpture for the National War Memorial at

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. In the same year he was awarded the

Wynne prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

at Sydney. His best-known works are the figures on the exterior of the

in Hyde Park, Sydney, the central group in the interior, and the bronze reliefs. The figures on the exterior and the interior group, including ''Sacrifice'', are cited by sculptor, Ron Robertson-Swann as "Sydney's most moving example of publicly visible architecture". Art historian, Professor

Virginia Spate Virginia Margaret Spate (; 1937 – 12 August 2022) was a British-born Australian art historian and academic. Spate was born in the United Kingdom in 1937. She lived in Burma as a child until her family was evacuated during the Pacific War. In ...

, wrote in 1999: "Even incomplete, tis the most perfect sculptural monument in Australia." An example of his sculpture associated with architecture is at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

, where four medallion portraits of great scientists are on the façade of the physics building. Rayner also produced a variety of smaller work, built up a fine school of sculpture, and in 1934 was commissioned to design the Victorian centenary medal. His use of a ram's head as the design for one side of it was much criticized, and it is not one of his most successful efforts. At the time of his death on 19 November 1937 he was engaged on the George V Memorial for Canberra. He had recently been commissioned to design part of the new coinage for the Commonwealth, and earlier in 1937 had become an invited foundation member of Robert Menzies' anti-modernist organisation, the Australian Academy of Art. Among his works is the emblem of the Holden Australian car company, a stylised 'Lion and Stone' symbol representing a legend of man's invention of the wheel.

Architectural sculpture

The ANZAC War Memorial, completed in 1934, is the main commemorative military monument in Sydney, designed by C. Bruce Dellit, has an exterior adorned with monumental figural reliefs and sculptures by Rayner Hoff, and is arguably the finest

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

structure in Australia. *Medallions for various

buildings, 1924 *Royal Arch Masonic Temple, Sydney, Australia, 1927. More specifically the Egyptian Room in the Petersham Temple, he was a Freemason himself. *''The Spirit of Womanhood'', National War Memorial,

, South Australia, 1927–30 *Figures and panels,

, Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia, 1931–34 *''Theatre Arts'' & ''Pan'' Liberty Theatre, Sydney, Australia, 1934 *''Ride of the Valkyries'' relief panel, Hotel Manly, Manly, Australia, 1935 *Panels, Hotel Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 1935 *Relief panels, City Mutual Life Insurance building, Sydney, Australia, 1936 *''Mercury'', Transportation House, Sydney, Australia, 1938

Other works

* War memorial panels, Dubbo,

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* ''Australian Venus'', Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1927 *''Sacrifice'', figure inside ANZAC Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney, 1934 *

Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal The Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal is awarded at most every two years by the Australian Academy of Science to a mathematician or physicist for his or her outstanding research accomplishments.

for outstanding research by an Australian mathematician or physicist, first awarded in 1935. *Bust of William Farrer in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, 1937 *

King George V Memorial The King George V Memorial has been located outside Old Parliament House, Canberra since the 1940s. Commissioned in 1936 and largely completed by 1941, it took until 1953 to officially unveil the monument due to delays to the final elements of it ...

, Canberra, 1937-53 (designed by Hoff and finished by John Moorefield following Hoff's death) * Bronze memorial plaque to John Irvine Hunter in

Wesley College, University of Sydney Wesley College is a co-residential college of 265 students within the University of Sydney. The college occupies a site on the main campus of the University of Sydney and was built on a sub-grant of Crown land. Wesley is one of six on-campus co ...

Death

Hoff died eight days before his 43rd birthday. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

References