’Power in Woman’: Sarah Lucas’ female figures arrive at London’s Soane Museum
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Complex and ever provocative, British artist Sarah Lucas is a woman of many parts. So too, is her corps of discombobulated female figure studies, which are now on show in a new London exhibition at Sir John Soane’s Museum, supported by the Art Fund.
‘Power in Woman’ sees Lucas’ commission from last year’s Venice Biennale return to the custard-yellow setting that in part inspired her installation for the British Pavilion. The trio of sculptures on show – Yoko, Pauline, and Michele – make themselves at home in the North Drawing Room, casually slumped and explicitly splayed atop furniture among the storied museum’s antiques and paintings.
‘Sir John was continually, over a lifetime, collecting and extending his house to accommodate his collection. The whole edifice is his work of art,’ says Lucas. ‘Strange then to intervene in his picture, temporarily.’ Lucas’ sculptures form part of a series of ten cast plaster bodies, collectively titled the Muses, and for which the artist used friends as models.
The ‘topless’ figures, each one embellished with a cigarette, form a startling counterpoint to the classical sculptures in the museum’s collection. ‘Soane’s plasters are cast from the marble originals. Mine, on the other hand, are cast direct from the woman in question using the rough and ready method of making a waste mould by applying plaster bandage directly onto the body,’ the artist explains.
She adds: ‘The mould doesn’t survive. There’s very little room in the process for refining the figure or otherwise idealising it.’ Lucas makes a compelling case for how much perfection there is in imperfection.
Pauline, 2015. The show sees Lucas’ commission from last year’s Venice Biennale return to the custard-yellow setting that in part inspired her installation for the British Pavilion. © Sarah Lucas. Courtesy of Sir John Soane's Museum and Sadie Coles HQ. Photography: Graeme Robertson
Yoko, 2015. The works make themselves at home in the North Drawing Room, casually slumped and explicitly splayed atop furniture among the storied museum’s antiques and paintings. © Sarah Lucas. Courtesy of Sir John Soane's Museum and Sadie Coles HQ. Photography: Graeme Robertson
INFORMATION
‘Power in Woman’ runs until 21 May. For more information, visit the Sir John Soane’s Museum website (opens in new tab)
ADDRESS
13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London WC2A
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
-
London Original Print Fair 2023: 10 prints on our radar, from Brian Eno to Tracey Emin
As London Original Print Fair 2023 kicks off (until 2 April 2023), explore the 10 prints on our wish list this year, from Brian Eno to Tracey Emin; Mona Hatoum to Harland Miller
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Inside the new Prada Caffè at Harrods, a candy box of Italian delights
Opening 31 March 2023, Prada Caffè features an array of picture-perfect pastries, pastas and aperitifs in a space designed by the Italian house – all the way down to the sugar packets
By Mary Cleary • Published
-
Cadillac Celestiq EV is a bespoke super saloon, paired with a midcentury modern customer experience centre
Cadillac House at Vanderbilt was originally designed by Eero Saarinen. Now restored and updated, it serves as the customer centre for the new Cadillac Celestiq – a statement electric saloon and the most customisable Cadillac ever
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
The best London art exhibitions: a guide for March 2023
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions, and those around the UK in March 2023, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Harriet Lloyd Smith • Published
-
Ai Weiwei's largest-ever Lego artwork revealed at London’s Design Museum
At London’s Design Museum, Ai Weiwei has unveiled Water Lilies #1, a new Lego recreation of Claude Monet’s iconic painting. We explore the vast new work ahead of the Chinese artist’s major show at the museum, opening on 7 April 2023
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Lynda Benglis’ seductive hall of mirrors and juicy neon eggs in London
American artist Lynda Benglis subverts expectations with new bronze sculptures and otherworldly coloured eggs in a new solo show at Thomas Dane Gallery, London
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Desert X 2023 is a staggering sculpture extravaganza spanning California’s Coachella Valley
Will Jennings travels to the Coachella Valley to explore outdoor sculpture exhibition Desert X 2023, which sees projects balance impact, subtlety, and unapologetic enormity
By Will Jennings • Published
-
London show celebrates the male physique in photography, from muscle hunks to scruffy punks
‘A Hard Man is Good to Find!’ – newly open at London’s Photographers’ Gallery – is a delectable survey of queer photographs of the male body created in London between the 1930s and early 1990s
By Benoit Loiseau • Published
-
Eric van Hove brings Morocco to Mayfair in a sculpture exhibition at Connolly
At Connolly in London’s Mayfair, Eric van Hove’s ‘Fenduq’ sees British poise collide with the raw grace of Moroccan creativity
By Flora Vesterberg • Published
-
Inside Shoreditch Arts Club: east London’s new hub for cultural and culinary delights
Shoreditch Arts Club, opening on 7 March, is a new private members' club set within the landmark Tea Building that aims to evoke ‘the curiosity of an avid art collector’s home’
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Sarah Lucas’ ‘Big Women’ is a raunchy, raucous celebration of punk femininity
Curated by Sarah Lucas, ‘Big Women’ at Firstsite Colchester unites 20 female heavyweights shaping the British art scene today – a jubilant survey brimming with wit, defiance and fun
By Charlotte Jansen • Last updated