Naum Gabo

The Estate of Naum & Miriam Gabo, United Kingdom (the artist & his wife)
Mr & Mrs Graham Williams (the artist's son-in-law; by descent from the above)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in January 1990

New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, Paintings and Sculpture by the Directors of the Société Anonyme, 1920-48, 1948, no. 38 (incorrectly dated 1936)
Dallas, Museum of Art; Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario; New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Berlin, Akademie der Künste; Düsseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen & London, The Tate Gallery, Naum Gabo Retrospective, 1986-87, no. 26, illustrated in the catalogue
London, South Bank Centre; Newcastle, Hatton Gallery; Hull, Ferens Art Gallery; Manchester, City Art Gallery; Birmingham, City Art Gallery & Glasgow, Art Gallery & Museum, Naum Gabo: The Constructive Idea, Sculpture, Drawings, Paintings, Monoprints, 1987-88, no. 15, illustrated in the catalogue
Lugano, Galleria Pieter Coray & Paris, Galerie de France, Naum Gabo, 1989-90, no. 2, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Valencia, Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, Centre Julio González, Arte Abstracto, Arte Concreto: Paris, Cercle et Carré, 1930, 1990
Barcelona, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Art i Utopia. L'Accio restringida, 2004
Nantes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, L'Action restreinte, art et poésie, l'effet Mallarmé, 2005
Paris, Galerie de France, Tours et détours dans la collection, 2006
Hanover, Sprengel Museum, Merz areas, Kurt Schwitters and his friends, 2007
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 2007

Herbert Read & Leslie Martin, Gabo: Constructions, Sculpture, Paintings, Drawings, Engravings, London, 1957, illustrated figs. 72 & 73
Herbert Read, A Concise History of Modern Sculpture, London, 1964, illustrated fig. 108 (miscaptioned)
Steven A. Nash & Jörn Merkert (eds.), Naum Gabo: Sixty Years of Constructivism, Munich, 1985, no. 37.6, illustrated p. 111
Jorn Merkert, Naum Gabo, Milan, 1990, illustrated in colour p. 28
Martin Hammer & Christina Lodder, Constructing Modernity: The Art & Career of Naum Gabo, New Haven & London, 2000, no. 182, illustrated p. 265

There are lines of glue residue around the joins of the work, intrinsic to the artist's process, some of which are visible in the catalogue illustration. Apart from a few light scuffs and marks to the clear rhodoid elements of the piece, this work is in overall good condition.
"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."

Spheric Theme: Black Variation is one of the most important works in Gabo's artistic evolution and signals the direction that much of Gabo's later work was to take following his move to America. It was executed in 1937, when Gabo was editing the periodical, Circle, with Ben Nicholson and Herbert Read. His period in Hampstead with the great and the good of the London Art scene was arguably the best of his career.

This particular work is an extraordinary acheivement, made entirely of materials entirely new to usage in works of art. The body of the structure is made of two circles of celluloid, deftly bent to form an extraordinary shape that is then held together by a celluloid skeleton. It is a wonderfully complete manifestation of Gabo and Pevsner's 'Constructivism' that relates to the unmade Tatlin tower of 1914, one of the major cornerstones of early twentieth-century Futurism, and reflects the modernity of 1930s Britain. The artist most influenced by Gabo's theories was Barbara Hepworth, who amalgamated the curves of works such as those in Spheric Theme: Black Variation as well as Gabo's earlier string pieces in Stringed Figure: Curlew (Maquette I) (fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Barbara Hepworth, Stringed Figure: Curlew (Maquette I), brass and cotton string, 1956. Sold: Sotheby's, London, 24th October 2005, lot 123