John W. Mills (British, b.1993): A Bronze Sculpture of Buster Keaton

circa 1981-1982,

circa 1981-1982,
bronze sculpture with black and green patina, depicting Buster Keaton as 'Johnnie Gray' in The General (1926), the base signed in cast John Mills, foundry mark indistinct,
57in x 22 1/2in x 12in (145cm x 57cm x 30.5cm)

Provenance:
Offered by the Royal Society of Sculptors.

A celebrated sculptor with a career spanning over seven decades, John W. Mills produced the present sculpture as part of a wider series honouring his personal artistic heroes. Keaton was one of the more recent figures in the series along with Orson Welles. Other subjects included William Blake, Rembrandt, and Michelangelo.

Buster Keaton is depicted in one of his most recognisable roles, train engineer 'Johnnie Gray'. He sports the flowing hair and billowing shirt seen in many of the films dynamic railroad sequences. The angular, almost flattened rendering evokes the frenetic energy of the actor for which he is so well known.