Robert Adams

London, Gimpel Fils, Robert Adams, April 1949, no.8;
New York, American Abstract Artists, 15^th Anniversary Invitation Exhibition (British Section), March-April 1951 (as ‘Tall Form’);
Dublin, Victor Waddington Gallery, Robert Adams, May 1954, no.8.

Alastair Grieve, The Sculpture of Robert Adams, HMF/Lund Humphries, 1992, no.67, illustrated;
Alastair Grieve, Constructed Art in England After the Second World War: A Neglected Avant-Garde, Yale University Press, New Haven & London 2005, no.98, illustrated as ‘Tall Figure 1948-9’.

An old break is visible at the bottom of the long stem - though still clearly visible to the naked eye, this has been properly and soundly repaired. There are three or four possible liquid stains on the crown of the head, a 2in. surface crack near the foot (this does not impact the stability of the piece in any way) and one tiny worm hole which appears to have been treated. Any further shallow surface scratches or nicks are characteristic of a work of this type - they do not disfigure the piece in any way and are in keeping with the imperfect nature of the patina of the wood.
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Adams’ second one-man show at Gimpel Fils in 1949 saw him exhibit nineteen sculptures and twenty-one drawings which all dealt with the theme of an abstracted figure. In the sculptures of this group, the forms are pared down to a level of extreme simplicity, possibly influenced by his experience of Brancusi, whose Paris studio he had visited in the early part of the year. Of these, Figure 1948 is perhaps the most simplified, relying purely on the proportions and asymmetry of the elements to give movement and life to the piece.