Woman and Serpent

George Grey Barnard (1863–1938) was an American sculptor known for allegorical and mythological subjects rendered in a romantic idiom. This red chalk study explores a classical theme: the encounter between a female figure and a serpent, a motif rooted in biblical and Greco-Roman narrative traditions. The artist's linear, expressionistic line work animates the composition with dynamic energy, while the careful anatomical rendering of both figures demonstrates Barnard's academic training. Working in the early twentieth century, Barnard contributed to American sculpture's engagement with European modernism and academic traditions, balancing naturalistic form with symbolic content.