Lynn Chadwick, R.A.

Gimpel Fils, London, where acquired by Thomas C. Adler in 1955 and thence by family descent to the previous owners

Their sale, Sotheby's London, 30 June 2022, lot 266, where acquired by the present owner

Denise Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick, Sculptor: With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 1947 – 2003, Lund Humphries, Farnham, 2014, no. 148, p. 147

In 1952, Chadwick was chosen to represent Britain at the XXVI Venice Biennale alongside eight other sculptors; Robert Adams, Kenneth Armitage, Reg Butler, Geoffrey Clarke, Bernard Meadows, Eduardo Paolozzi and William Turnbull. This event introduced Chadwick to international audiences and demonstrated the undeniable prowess of a new generation of British sculptors, an avant-garde who were redefining the landscape that had been dominated by older and more established artists such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. No longer referencing classical forms or a familiar visual language, the works of these artists reflected a post-war reality punctuated by nuclear anxiety and the aftermath of the Second World War, in which Chadwick himself had also served. In a defining catalogue essay that introduced this body of work at the Biennale, Herbert Read termed these sculptures as embodying the ‘Geometry of Fear’.

A self-taught artist who left a career in architecture, Chadwick is known for his unique approach which merges construction and sculpture. After serving as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm between 1941 and 1944, Chadwick began crafting mobiles, suspending kinetic sculptures of the kind popularized by Alexander Calder in the early 20^th century. Chadwick initially regarded mobiles in architectural terms, approaching his work like a constructor rather than a modeller. After learning how to weld however, construction and modelling began to fuse, leading him to produce the solid three-dimensional sculptures most associated with his oeuvre.

Second Version of Snapping Turtle is amongst the most prized of his sculptures, being a unique welded iron sculpture created in 1954, from this most fertile period of his creative output. Critical recognition of his work was to follow just two years later when he exhibited once more at the 1956 Venice Biennale, winning the International Sculpture Prize – one many believed would go to Alberto Giacometti – which solidified his position as a leading voice in the world of contemporary art.

While Chadwick focused heavily on abstracted forms in his work, purging his work of any overtly representational elements, Second Version of Snapping Turtle exemplifies Chadwick’s evolving tendency to imbue his sculptures with suggestions of natural forms, particularly animals. His abstract shapes were often supported by legs or began to acquire movement and in doing so, suggested life. Chadwick’s animals resemble the primordial ancestors of the creatures we know today, both in their bold appearance and elemental presence. While this sculpture lacks explicit anatomical detail, character is conveyed through its form, posture, and sense of movement. Standing at 82 cm tall, Second Version of Snapping Turtle confronts the viewer with a commanding presence, and exudes the strength and angularity of the best of his work from this period.

Second Version of Snapping Turtle has previously only been known by a design illustrated in Denise Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick, Sculptor: With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 1947 – 2003. The work was acquired directly from Gimpel Fils the year after its creation by Thomas C. Adler, a lifelong resident of Cincinnati and a patron and supporter of the arts, notably as a founder of the Contemporary Arts Center and a board member of the Cincinnati Art Museum.