Aldous Huxley
- Artist: Paul Hamann
- Date: 1981
- Medium: bronze
- Dimensions: 16 3/4 in. x 7 1/2 in. (424 mm x 190 mm) overall
- Portrays: Aldous Huxley
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is a bronze life‑mask of Aldous Huxley, made by sculptor Paul Hamann in 1981 on a 1930 model. You’ll see Huxley’s face captured in relief, with his profile and the contours that hint at his thoughtful expression. The mask measures about 16¾ inches long and 7½ inches tall – small enough to fit in your hand yet detailed enough to read his features.
Hamann, who worked on a handful of portraits, perfected a gentle technique for taking life masks, once called “the gentlest, kindest, most coaxing process imaginable.” Huxley himself was born in 1894 and began as a poet before becoming a novelist until his death in 1963. The bronze finish gives the mask a subtle warmth that contrasts with the smoothness of the plaster original.
See it in person
Aldous Huxley is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
