Lynn Chadwick

Private Collection, Switzerland (acquired directly from the artist’s studio in the mid-1980s)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Chadwick: recent sculpture (exh. cat.), Marlborough Fine Art, London, 1984, illustration of another cast p. 19
Dennis Farr & Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick, Sculptor, 1947 – 2005, London, 2005, no. C8, illustration of another cast p. 349

Chadwick's work in an architect’s office before the war gave him an exceptional understanding of line and scale. His first exhibition in 1950 at the Gimpel Fils gallery was widely critically acclaimed. Two years later he was chosen to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale where he was noticed by an admiring public. The Museum of Modern Art in New York purchased his aggressively formed The Inner Eyeand soon international collectors and admirers followed Chadwick’s output. His success culminated in 1956 when Chadwick edged out Alberto Giacometti to win the International Sculpture Prize in Venice.

The evolution of Chadwick’s sculpture can be seen through the change in his stylistic formula - spiked forms of great internal tension and disharmony developed into simpler and more sentimental figures. Immediately following the war, Chadwick’s output consisted of largely belligerent avian creatures that seemed to stalk their environment creating a sense of fear and paranoia. The symbolisation of the post-war era characterised many artist’s works of the period. Whilst the manner in which Chadwick worked stayed the same, always preferring to construct rather than to model, his style shifted dramatically. The harsh textures and claw-like spikes of the 1950s were replaced by smoother surfaces and less visceral visual imagery including human-like figures.

Seated figures characterise Chadwick’s later output. Throughout the late twentieth century these figures began to appear in sculpture parks and public spaces around the world, from Seoul to Tel Aviv. The concept of enduring love between man and woman is symptomatic of the simplicity, both in material and style.