The Big Picture: Girl with a Scarf

Lili Auer's "Girl with a Scarf" sculpture at Allerton Park & Retreat Center. (Image by L. Brian Stauffer/UI Public Affairs)

Sculpted by German artist Lili Auer, Girl with a Scarf resides in the Brick Wall Garden at Allerton Park & Retreat Center. The statue was purchased by Robert Henry Allerton in 1942, when the park was still a private residence. He first saw it at the Art Institute of Chicago’s 1941-42 Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture. The concrete sculpture was not cast, but formed by troweling a stiff mixture over an armature of iron bars and chicken wire; Auer then rubbed crushed rock into the surface and finished with a dusting of powdered white silica to unify the color and add a low luster. Girl with a Scarf is one of more than 70 works of art on display at the 1,500-acre park, which is owned by the University of Illinois.