Bronze with brown patina. Each with the embossed artist's signet, the double serial number “C24” and the double numbering, as well as with the foundry mark. Each from an edition of 9 copies. Male figure: 76 x 37 x 63 cm. Female figure: 77 x 36 x 64 cm. Cast by Morris Singer Founders, London. [CH] The exhibition series “Hypercycle”, curated by art historian Matthieu Poirier and running 2024-2026, will trace a part of Lynn Chadwick's career in three chapters at various locations on three continents.
• Maquette III Jubilee III: Expression of Lynn Chadwick's inimitable style. • Maquette from the “Jubilee” group, which counts among his most sought-after creations. • The artist animates his figures with dynamic postures and flowing robes. • In 1988, “Back to Venice,” a monumental version of a similar pair of figures, was exhibited at the Venice Biennale. • In 2023, the monumental bronze “Jubilee IV” (1985) fetched the second-highest price ever for a work by the artist at an auction in New York. • To this day, Lynn Chadwick is one of the most renowned British artists of the 20th century. LITERATURE: Dennis Farr and Éva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick. Sculptor (With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-2003), Farnham 2014, cat. no. C24 (with an illustration of a different copy, p. 358). Dennis Farr and Éva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick. Sculptor (With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-2005), Aldershot 2006, cat. no. C24 (with an illustration of a different copy, p. 359). Dennis Farr and Éva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick. Sculptor (With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-1996), Oxford 1997, cat. no. C24 (with an illustration of a different copy, p. 351). - - Edward Lucie-Smith, Chadwick, Stroud 1997, pp. 120f. (with an illustration of a different copy). Dorotheum, Vienna, Contemporary Art, Nov. 25, 2009, lot 10 (illustrated, also on the cover).
Lynn Chadwick, Beaux Arts, Bath, September to October 1986 (illustrated, different copy).
Galleria Blu, Milan. Private collection, Europe. Private collection, Southern Germany (acquired in 2009)
Lynn Chadwick is recognized as one of the most important European sculptors of the second half of the 20th century. While he only began working as a freelance sculptor in the late 1940s, his unwavering artistic endeavors were rewarded with great success at an early stage. In 1952, he and Kenneth Armitage represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale. The exhibition “New Aspects of British Sculpture” was immediately met with international acclaim. In 1956, he was awarded the International Prize for Sculpture at the 28th Venice Biennale. From the early 1950s, Chadwick primarily explored the physical presence of human and animal bodies in compositions consisting of one or more figures, placing his edgy hybrid creatures on delicate, thin legs. This approach has always been part of his characteristic formal vocabulary. These abstracted bodies, often with neither arms nor facial features and occasionally incorporating geometric elements, appear throughout Chadwick's six-decade-spanning sculptural oeuvre. The first copies of his two-figure works date back to the 1950s, including “Conjunction” (1953, Tate Gallery), which was to be a recurring theme throughout his entire career. These works and the pieces from the “Jubilee” series starting in 1977 are among the artist's most famous creations. In the 1980s, he created further variations of the “Jubilee” figure pairs, a striding female and male figure with flowing cloaks. In a wide range of forms and sizes, Chadwick imbues these sculptures with a fascinating dynamism, even a sense of movement, while simultaneously exploring their intriguing relationship. They stride confidently and purposefully, their robes flapping in the wind as if walking in step with each other. The two figures are united by their parallel postures, movements, liveliness, and robes, yet they are clearly distinguishable. From the 1970s onwards, Chadwick often provided his figures with head shapes that indicated gender using geometric forms, such as pyramids or triangles for females and squares or cubes for males. In “Maquette III Jubilee III”, the female forms of the right-hand figure are also emphasized. The bronzes from the “Jubilee” group illustrate Chadwick's extraordinary artistic ingenuity, his inimitable style, and the one-of-a-kind visual vocabulary of his later works from the 1970s and 80s. They mark a pinnacle of Chadwick's sculptural creation within an oeuvre that had a profound impact on the aesthetics of sculpture in European post-war art. This may explain why the monumental bronze “Jubilee IV” (1985) fetched $3,300,000 at an auction in New York in 2023, making it the second-highest price ever paid for a work by the artist. [CH]
Condition report on request katalogisierung@kettererkunst.de
Lot Details
Bronze with brown patina. Each with the embossed artist's signet, the double serial number “C24” and the double numbering, as well as with the foundry mark. Each from an edition of 9 copies. Male figure: 76 x 37 x 63 cm. Female figure: 77 x 36 x 64 cm. Cast by Morris Singer Founders, London. [CH] The exhibition series “Hypercycle”, curated by art historian Matthieu Poirier and running 2024-2026, will trace a part of Lynn Chadwick's career in three chapters at various locations on three continents.
• Maquette III Jubilee III: Expression of Lynn Chadwick's inimitable style. • Maquette from the “Jubilee” group, which counts among his most sought-after creations. • The artist animates his figures with dynamic postures and flowing robes. • In 1988, “Back to Venice,” a monumental version of a similar pair of figures, was exhibited at the Venice Biennale. • In 2023, the monumental bronze “Jubilee IV” (1985) fetched the second-highest price ever for a work by the artist at an auction in New York. • To this day, Lynn Chadwick is one of the most renowned British artists of the 20th century. LITERATURE: Dennis Farr and Éva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick. Sculptor (With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-2003), Farnham 2014, cat. no. C24 (with an illustration of a different copy, p. 358). Dennis Farr and Éva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick. Sculptor (With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-2005), Aldershot 2006, cat. no. C24 (with an illustration of a different copy, p. 359). Dennis Farr and Éva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick. Sculptor (With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-1996), Oxford 1997, cat. no. C24 (with an illustration of a different copy, p. 351). - - Edward Lucie-Smith, Chadwick, Stroud 1997, pp. 120f. (with an illustration of a different copy). Dorotheum, Vienna, Contemporary Art, Nov. 25, 2009, lot 10 (illustrated, also on the cover).
Lynn Chadwick, Beaux Arts, Bath, September to October 1986 (illustrated, different copy).
Galleria Blu, Milan. Private collection, Europe. Private collection, Southern Germany (acquired in 2009)
Lynn Chadwick is recognized as one of the most important European sculptors of the second half of the 20th century. While he only began working as a freelance sculptor in the late 1940s, his unwavering artistic endeavors were rewarded with great success at an early stage. In 1952, he and Kenneth Armitage represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale. The exhibition “New Aspects of British Sculpture” was immediately met with international acclaim. In 1956, he was awarded the International Prize for Sculpture at the 28th Venice Biennale. From the early 1950s, Chadwick primarily explored the physical presence of human and animal bodies in compositions consisting of one or more figures, placing his edgy hybrid creatures on delicate, thin legs. This approach has always been part of his characteristic formal vocabulary. These abstracted bodies, often with neither arms nor facial features and occasionally incorporating geometric elements, appear throughout Chadwick's six-decade-spanning sculptural oeuvre. The first copies of his two-figure works date back to the 1950s, including “Conjunction” (1953, Tate Gallery), which was to be a recurring theme throughout his entire career. These works and the pieces from the “Jubilee” series starting in 1977 are among the artist's most famous creations. In the 1980s, he created further variations of the “Jubilee” figure pairs, a striding female and male figure with flowing cloaks. In a wide range of forms and sizes, Chadwick imbues these sculptures with a fascinating dynamism, even a sense of movement, while simultaneously exploring their intriguing relationship. They stride confidently and purposefully, their robes flapping in the wind as if walking in step with each other. The two figures are united by their parallel postures, movements, liveliness, and robes, yet they are clearly distinguishable. From the 1970s onwards, Chadwick often provided his figures with head shapes that indicated gender using geometric forms, such as pyramids or triangles for females and squares or cubes for males. In “Maquette III Jubilee III”, the female forms of the right-hand figure are also emphasized. The bronzes from the “Jubilee” group illustrate Chadwick's extraordinary artistic ingenuity, his inimitable style, and the one-of-a-kind visual vocabulary of his later works from the 1970s and 80s. They mark a pinnacle of Chadwick's sculptural creation within an oeuvre that had a profound impact on the aesthetics of sculpture in European post-war art. This may explain why the monumental bronze “Jubilee IV” (1985) fetched $3,300,000 at an auction in New York in 2023, making it the second-highest price ever paid for a work by the artist. [CH]
Condition report on request katalogisierung@kettererkunst.de
