Title: Sleeping Children
Artist: Henryk Hochman
Date: c. 1900
Type: sculpture
Technique: polychrome plaster
Dimensions: height: 18.5 cm, width: 24 cm
Sleeping Children is a relief sculpture depicting the faces of two sleeping girls carved on a rectangular plane. A relief is a sculptural form created on a flat surface, designed to be viewed from the front. The girls are turned toward each other, their foreheads touching. The surface of the sculpture has a light orange hue.
On the left side, the first girl is shown with short, curly hair and a round face. Her eyes are closed, her nose is small and upturned, and her small, full lips are slightly parted. The second girl is on the right, positioned slightly higher, her face partially overlapping the first. She has long hair braided into a plait that falls to the left side. Her face is more elongated, with closed eyes, a straight nose, and lips gently pressed together. Both figures have calm, relaxed expressions.
The background of the composition is a rough, rectangular surface. In the lower right corner, the artist’s signature, Hochman, is visible.
Henryk Hochman returned to the theme of sleeping children many times, exploring it in various formats and materials. In addition to plaster sculptures, he also created similar figures in faience, produced at the Factory of Fireclay and Faience Products in Skawina.
According to the testamentary notes of Professor Zofia Ameisenowa, this plaster sculpture depicts Halina Ameisen and her cousin, Maria Schwanenfeld.
