Lynn Chadwick

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owners circa 1989

Paul Levine & Nico Koster, Lynn Chadwick, Spruyt, Van Mantgem & De Does, Leiden 1988, pp.32-33, illustrated in the catalogue (another cast);
Dennis Farr & Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick Sculptor, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1990, cat. no.63, illustrated in the catalogue (iron and composition maquette);
Furstentum, Galerie am Lindenplatz, Lynn Chadwick, 7th June - 13th July 1991, cat. no.8; 
Dennis Farr et al., Lynn Chadwick, Tate Publishing, London 2003, p.28, fig.7, illustrated in the catalogue (iron and composition maquette).

Oxford, Black Hall, Seven British Contemporary Artists, May 1952, cat. no.34 (iron and composition maquette exhibited);
London, Beaux Arts, Lynn Chadwick, 16^th May – 30^th June 2001, illustrated on the catalogue cover (another cast);
Loughborough, University School of Art and Design, Lynn Chadwick, July 2003, cat. no.1 (another cast);
London, Osborne Samuel, Lynn Chadwick, 23^rd September – 17^th October 2009, illustrated p.6, unnumbered catalogue (another cast).

Dirt has gathered in some of the crevices but the sculpture is in generally good condition. The Pangolin Foundry has recently carried out some remedial work to realign the right upright and strengthen an existing hairline crack. There is a very slight abrasion to the patination of one of the longer legs. The mobile elements are formed from untreated cut iron, and have aged in accordance with the artist's intention. 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."

Conceived in 1951 and cast in an edition of nine in the late 1980s.

Bullfrog belongs to a small but important group of sculptures that Chadwick produced in the 1951-53 period, which incorporated mobile elements into sculptures which drew largely on abstracted animal forms for their inspiration. Chadwick had previously made a number of large-scale mobile sculptures, such as The Fisheater and Dragonfly (both Tate Collection) but this development of the anthropomorphic elements of these smaller stabile sculptures necessitated that the mobile component assisted in the creation of the overall character of the piece, and indeed the jagged, interlaced teeth of the moving iron parts helps to create a tension that is key to the success of the sculptures. In Bullfrog, the mobile element, formed from three counterbalanced iron pieces, each thin and sharp, is in complete contrast to the almost comical bulk of the 'body'. The weighting of the mobile section causes these parts to turn with an almost whip-like movement, reminiscent of the pouncing of those amphibians which fire out a tongue or limb to capture their prey.

Although Bullfrog was not included in the group of sculptures that Chadwick exhibited in the breakthrough group exhibition New Aspects of British Sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1952, presumably because it had already been sold, it nevertheless perfectly captures the new and threatening forms that were so much part of the vocabulary of the generation of British sculptors that were coming to prominence in the early 1950s. Whilst there was a considerable variation in the styles, working methods and aims of the eight sculptors (Chadwick's fellow exhibitors were Adams, Armitage, Butler, Clarke, Meadows, Paolozzi & Turnbull), there was an immediate critical recognition of a new aesthetic in British sculpture, and all of those exhibiting were to go on to major international successes throughout the decade and after. For Chadwick this was perhaps most startlingly brought home with his winning of the International Sculpture Prize at the 1956 Venice Biennale, beating Alberto Giacometti into second place.

One of the first of Chadwick's sculptures to incorporate the use of a composite material to fill the spaces between the welded metal forms, Bullfrog is thus one of the first pieces to feel substantially fleshed out beyond the rather skeletal forms of contemporary works such as Balanced Sculpture, 1951 (Private Collection) and Barley Fork, 1952 (Private Collection), and is perhaps why it alone appears to have lent itself to being cast as a bronze edition. Created by the artist from the original maquette in the late 1980s, this edition offers collectors a rare chance to acquire an example of this small but important group of sculptures.