Dame Elisabeth Frink, D.B.E., R.A.

Beaux Arts, London, whence acquired by the present owner

Washington D.C., The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture & Drawings 1950-1990, 1990, unnumbered catalogue (artist's cast);
London, Beaux Arts Gallery, Elisabeth Frink, May – June 2002, unnumbered catalogue.

Edward Lucie-Smith, Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture since 1984 and Drawings, Art Books International, London, 1994, no.SC28, illustrated frontispiece, pp.54, 55 and 186 (another cast).
Edward Lucie-Smith and Elisabeth Frink, Frink: A Portrait, Bloomsbury, London, 1994, illustrated p.104;
Stephen Gardiner, Frink, HarperCollins, London, 1998, illustrated, unpaginated.

The following condition report has been compiled in consultation with Ken Cook, who was originally responsible for the patination of the present Riace sculptures. In keeping with Frink's intention that the surfaces of these bronzes should age and change with time, the colouring of the patination has changed in several areas. The grey marking on the torso, for example, was not part of the original patination, but is entirely due to natural weathering. The sculpture could, however, be repatinated. There are also marks of surface matter which are a result of the sculpture standing outside, which could be removed. There is a small spot of paint loss between the eyebrows on the figure's face. The sculpture would benefit from re-waxing. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 5381 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

'I remember reading about the Riace warriors – how they were found in the sea off Calabria and brought up to the surface. Then I remember them being on show in Florence. The original figures are very beautiful, but also very sinister, and that is what they are supposed to be'. (The artist, quoted in Edward Lucie-Smith and Elisabeth Frink, Frink: A Portrait, Bloombsury, London 1994, p.125).

Conceived in 1986 and cast in an edition of four.

Although the monumental male nude was not a new subject for Frink, going right back to the Warrior sculptures of the mid 1950s, the life-size standing male figures really begins as a theme with First Man of 1964. Always just a little over life-size, they exist in a number of variants, walking, running, or standing, but always exhibiting the same sense of tension and presence. The Riace series of four figures began with Walking Man of 1986, which was later renamed Riace I and is a little shorter than the rest of the group, and draw inspiration from the two fifth-century Greek sculptures of warriors that had been discovered off the coast of Reggio Calabria in 1972, and which Frink had seen. Whilst her figures have moved away from the defined musculature of the classical, they retain the contrapposto stance and the turning heads that give them an air of movement and alertness. Physically imposing, and of substantial build, these warrior figures are nevertheless far from the brutal Soldier's Head sculptures of 1965, having acquired a vulnerability and humanity that despite their threatening appearance is hard to avoid.

Towards the end of her life Frink was experimenting widely with the colouring of sculpture, and all three of the present examples have the white-painted face and terracotta colouring that seems to have derived from the artist's experience of Aboriginal sculpture.