Diana Guest, Naja
1979, bronze
Gift of the artist
Collection of The Society of the Four Arts, 1980.2
American sculptor Diana Guest (1909-1994) was born in England (her grandfather was Baron Wimborne) and raised there and in the U.S. and Kenya. Her mother was a member of the Phipps family, which gave the land on which the King Library was built. Guest’s sculptural practice focuses on forceful but elegant renderings of animals and plants that seem to transform from the materials themselves. She executed her works in granite, marble, alabaster, and bronze, among other materials. This fearsome sculpture’s title, Naja, refers to the genus of venomous snakes commonly called cobras.