Lynn Chadwick, R.A.

Mrs. Helen Lessore
Acquired by René Gaffé at the Venice Biennale, 15th September 1956
His sale, Christie's London, 6th November 2001, lot 23, where acquired by the present owner

London, New Burlington Galleries, 53rd London Group: British Painting and Sculpture, November - December 1954, cat. no.264;
Venice, XXVIII Venice Biennale, June - October 1956, cat. no.51, lent by Mrs H. Lessore.

J.P. Hodin, 'Lynn Chadwick,' Werk, vol. 44 (no. 3), March 1957, p.113;
Dennis Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick Sculptor, Lund Humphries, Aldershot, 2006, cat. no.143, p.100, illustrated.

The following condition report has been prepared by Plowden & Smith Limited, 190 St Ann's Hill, London, SW18 2RT: Generally the piece is structurally sound overall. The front left proper leg is bent but stable. This has had no detrimental effect on the ceramic area nearby. There is damage and a large loss of ceramic material on the bull's nose. The metal elements have sprung slightly during impact and are therfore marginally distorted. A large section of ceramic is lost. What remains is stable around the outside edges and, if handled carefully, should not deteriorate. There are a number of loose pieces in the centre of the break. These are vulnerable to loss. It would be advisable to secure these as their loss could increase the vulnerability of the remainder. It would be possible to recreate this area if photographs exist at a good aesthetic standard. The repair would be made distinguishable under UV from the original, for ethical purposes, and would be removable without harming the original material. The rest of the piece appears to be sound and in good condition, Please telephone the department on 0207 293 6424 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."

In 1952, Chadwick was one of eight young sculptors chosen to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale. Although each artist showed very few pieces (Chadwick showed four sculptures and four drawings), this exhibition was important for it was in his catalogue introduction that Herbert Read coined the oft-quoted phase, 'the geometry of fear'. Whilst Read's attempt to see a Jungian collective unconscious tendency within the work of the artists shown (Robert Adams, Kenneth Armitage, Reg Butler, Chadwick, Geoffrey Clarke, Bernard Meadows, Eduardo Paolozzi and William Turnbull) has been much questioned by art historians and critics, what is undeniable is that during the 1950s, a new generation had emerged onto the international sculpture stage.

Chadwick was central to this, and his position as a leading new artist was confirmed by his winning the International Sculpture Prize at the 1956 Venice Biennale (in which Short Horn was included), beating a host of international sculptors including Alberto Giacometti. Chadwick's fecundity of invention throughout the 1950s is clear when one considers that over three hundred pieces from that decade feature in the catalogue raisonne of his work. Within that extensive body of work, a number of themes emerge, one of the most prevalent being those derived from animal sources.

However, Chadwick's animals seem to be the almost primeval antecedants, in both character and appearance, of those we know. These beasts are strong, determined and aggressive, and regardless of their size the sense of challenge to the viewer is palpable.The method of making which Chadwick had refined in the early years of the decade enhanced this, the framework of welded iron rods giving the linear tension of the sculptures. This was then filled with Stolit, a commercially produced render which set hard and could be then worked and coloured by hand, filling the spaces in the armature with a surface akin to the evident musculature of a honed creature. Very rarely do these beasts have any identifiers beyond shape to give us a clue to their type or nature, these we learn from their attitude. In Short Horn, the bulk of this animal is foremost, pressing back the space it inhabits to take charge of its place in the world.