William Turnbull

The Artist, from whom acquired by E J Power 
Waddington Galleries, London, from whom acquired by the present owners in 2006

London, Tate, William Turnbull, 1973, cat. no.46, illustrated.

William Turnbull: Sculpture, Molton Gallery, London, (exh. cat.), 1961, p.48, illustrated fig.5;
Amanda A. Davidson, The Sculpture of William Turnbull, The Henry Moore Foundation in association with Lund Humphries, Aldershot, 2005, cat. no.96, illustrated p.110.

The sculpture appears sound. There is some very slight rubbing visible to some of the protruding edges of the work. There are some traces of oxidisation to the underside of the upper element and to the top of the lower element, with a couple of extremely minor traces elsewhere. There are a couple of very minor casting imperfections visible to the surface of the sculpture in places, only visible upon very close inspection. The sculpture has recently benefited from a light wax. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in very good overall condition. The work is freestanding. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 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."

Despite beginning the second half of the twentieth century being heralded as one of the leading voices in British Post-War sculpture (he was, for example, included in the 1952 Venice Biennale), the 1950s were to prove a difficult decade for Turnbull in terms of commercial success. Between 1950-6 he sold only two works (for £30 apiece), and he struggled to find the money and materials to support himself. His work of this period became, in part at least, a response to his personal circumstance; a form of tight self-scrutiny and self-expression. This instilled much of his work within the ‘totemic’ phase of the mid- late-1950s and into the early 1960s, with a very human focus on the embodiment of ideals and activities. Turning to Classical mythology he drew on themes of stoic suffering in his works, with the emergence of the Oedipus or Sungazer works. As he wrote in 1960: ‘The skin is that fragile between our inside and outside space – and the eye seems the most fragile connection between the two areas. What a tremendous decision to destroy this. That is my fascination with the Indians who blinded themselves by looking at the sun, or the self-blinding of Oedipus’ (The Artist, quoted in Uppercase, 4, 1960, referenced in William Turnbull, (exh. cat.), Tate, London, 1973, p.42).

This idea of ritual and archaic rite fascinated Turnbull, who returned to such ideas later in his career in works such as his Venus series (see lot 27). His sculptures of this period became experiences or rituals to be observed - seen both in this unique bronze and further unique works of the period, including Lotus Totem (1962, Private Collection, sold in these rooms 9^th June 2015, lot 28, for £701,000; a record for a work by Turnbull at auction), whose quiet, balanced form drew in the spectator in much the same way as the present work. The works produced towards the end of the 1950s were met with great critical and commercial enthusiasm, culminating in his introduction to the American collection Donald Blinken, later chairman of the Rothko Foundation, and his subsequent exhibition at New York’s Marlborough-Gerson Gallery in 1963. Turnbull found a welcoming and receptive audience across the Atlantic, a testament to which can be found in Hockney’s 1960s portraits of prominent American collectors such as Betty Freeman and Fred and Marcia Weisman, which include works by Turnbull in the paintings.

In the 1960s Turnbull’s reputation excelled in Britain, in part through the support of leading gallerists such as Leslie Waddington. This culminated with a major retrospective at the Tate in 1973 – itself quite an achievement for an artist under the age of fifty. In his introduction to the exhibition, in the which the present work was included, lent from the collection of E.J. Power, Richard Morphet identified Turnbull’s work as ‘some of the most striking forms, images and procedures in British art of the period’ (ibid., p.9). In particular he praised the confidence and integrity of his imagery and forms, writing that ‘each element within a work is cleanly articulated and distinct’ (ibid., p.9). This Tate retrospective showcased the expansive body of work that Turnbull had produced up to the 1970s, and his striking ability as a contemporary artist working across a variety of different mediums – from plaster, bronze, wood and clay to cut and welded metal, oil, acrylic and even Perspex. However one theme remained constant across these different mediums and that was the importance of the experience proffered by the piece. These were works made not only to be viewed, but made to provoke dialogue with the observer; a dialogue which still stands true to those experiencing the work today.