This sculpture by Peter Laszlo Peri entitled Man of the World, was created in 1960 and symbolised the new University's aspirations to reach out to the World. The feet of this sculpture are encircled by a Ram's horns. This is an allusion to the roots of the University, the Royal Albert Memorial College in Exeter, now the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery (RAMM) in Queen Street, Exeter.

The Man of the World sculpture was presented by the Exeter University College Club. It is made from a concrete material (sometimes known as Peri-crete) mixed with a colour pigment. Mounted on a metal armature, it emerges from the upper outside-wall of Devonshire House (the home of the Student Guild) on the University’s Streatham Campus. It was the subject of conservation in 2015 when it was cleaned and repaired by a professional conservator.

The artist, Peter Laszlo Peri, was born in Hungary in 1899 and was a refugee from Nazi Germany. His work is rooted in social realism and his desire to be accessible to the public determined his choice of subjects and their execution, often using coloured concrete which he pioneered in the 1930s.

He studied fine art and theatre and actually started his career as an actor. In 1921 he made his first abstract geometric reliefs and went on to exhibit his artwork in Berlin, before going on to study architecture and work in the municipal architectural office there.

From an early age, Peri was a political activist. In 1933 he immigrated into the UK. He lived in London and from 1938 until 1966 worked from his studio in Camden. He undertook a number of public art commissions as well as showing his work in exhibitions. You can find out more about the artist and his work here.

Man of the World is just one of the sculptures in the University of Exeter Sculpture Walk. Although you can't visit the Sculpture Walk in person at the moment, you can take the walk virtually here.