Lynn Chadwick RA,
British, 1914-2003 -
 
Maquette VII Walking Couple, 1976;
 

Lynn Chadwick RA,

British, 1914-2003 -

Maquette VII Walking Couple, 1976;

bronze, stamped with monogram, dated '76', numbered '786' and numbered with edition '3/8' on the reverse, H39 x W21 x D17cm (ARR)

Provenance: Sotheby's, London, Modern British and Irish Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, 30th June 1993, lot 70, illus. p.66; The Geoffrey and Fay Elliot Collection, purchased from the above and thence by descent

Exhibited: Galerie Farber, Brussels (with Victor Passmore), Nov-Dec 1976 (another cast)

Literature: Dennis Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick, Oxford University Press, 1990, no.736, pp.313, illus. (another cast)

Note: Leading British post-war sculptor Lynn Chadwick was introduced to an international audience when he was included in the XXVI Venice Biennale in 1952, as a way for the British Pavilion to demonstrate that the success of British sculptors reached beyond Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

In the 1960s, his work became more experimental with the creation of abstract human forms in addition to other complex figures, notable in the "Elektra" series. By 1973 he had begun to clothe his figures in pleated drapery, with figures often depicted with wings and billowing cloaks, as seen in the present work.

His sculptures have been referred to as three dimensional drawings. Beginning with abstract shapes, he would add on legs or arms to become animals or figures in motion: I would call it attitude, you know, the way that can almost make something talk by the way the neck is bent, or the attitude of the head; you can actually make these sculptures talk, they say something according to the exact balance, whereas if theyre absolutely straight… well, I suppose thats saying something, too (Farr, p.11)