Sale: 496 / Evening Sale, Dec. 06. 2019 in Munich Lot 152

 

152
William Turnbull
Figure, 1992.
Bronze with green-black patina
Estimate:
€ 100,000 / $ 108,000
Sold:
€ 143,750 / $ 155,250

(incl. surcharge)
Figure. 1992.
Bronze with green-black patina.
Stand with artist's monogram, date and number. From an edition of 6 copies. 219 x 65.5 x 42 cm (86.2 x 25.7 x 16.5 in).

• An absolute sensastion on the German auction market
• Monumental bronze with a marvelous green-black patina
• This is the first time in 15 years that a sculpture by the artist is offered on the German auction market
.

PROVENANCE: Waddington Galleries, London.
Private collection Southern Germany (acquired from aforementioned in 1998).

EXHIBITION: Each presumably different cast:
William Turnbull. Bronze Idols and Untitled Paintings, Serpentine Gallery, London, November 15, 1995 - January 7, 1996, cat. no. 63 (with color illu. on p. 85).
William Turnbull. Sculpture and Paintings, Waddington Galleries, London, June 24 - July 18, 1998, cat. no. 12 (with color illu. on p. 39).

LITERATURE: Each presumably different cast:
Amanda A. Davidson, The Sculpture of William Turnbull, Aldershot 2005, cat. no. 286, p. 184 and p. 39(with color illu.).

Even though William Turnbull became particularly famous for his three-dimensional bronzes, he also made paintings, watercolors and drawings in pencil and ink over the course of his career. His talent as painter also shows in his sculptural works in which he consistently experimented with a variety of colors for the surface patination. Equipped with a welding torch and an acid compound Turnbull worked on the previously heated bronze in his foundry. The result was a varying and iridescent patina on the mostly rough, almost wavy and furrowed surfaces. Through this special treatment the artist created a unique patina so that no two casts are alike. Texture and surface are not the only aspects of Turnbull’s artistic creation as he also examines questions regarding balance, perspective and representation principles.
Asked about the sculpture "Figure" from 1992 offered here, the artist explains that the symmetrical construction and the geometrical corpus refer to the form of a pendulum and emphasizes the work’s extraordinary frontality: "The idea was one of frontality, an idea which was not very current at the time. The prevailing view [..] was that sculpture had to be what they call multi-faceted. You went round and it kept changing all the time. I remember someone telling me that I wasn’t making proper sculpture because mine had front, back and sides. That of course is typical of what is normally called archaic sculpture." (William Turnbull 1998 in an interview with prof. lord Colin Renfrew, quote after: William Turnbull. Sculpture and Paintings, Waddington Galleries, London, June 24 – July 18, 1998, pp. 11f.). Contrary to the sculptural works from Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth or Lynn Chadwick, Turnbull’s works are not likewise three-dimensional objects that invite the observer– just as it even was the case with Renaissance or Baroque sculptures – to walk around the work and to discover ever new perspectives of the changing composition. Turnbull’s works are characterized by a much stronger frontal presence and seem to reference old Egyptian or antique Greek sculptures. When the artist studied at the London Slade School of Fine Art, he developed an interest in ancient figures, weapons, tools and other archaeological objects which he saw at visits to the large collections of the British Museum, and discovered their peculiar timelessness for himself and his art. Just as it accounts for all of his work, our work "Figure" also delivers proof of his preference for the simplicity of the form. Accordingly, his works strongly differ from those of his fellow artists and do not conform to prevailing tendencies and principles of the then contemporary art, particularly because of their aforementioned striking frontality. His obstinacy is also part of his creation. His son Sohn Alex recalls: "Bill cared if people didn’t like his work. But do you change what you do if they don’t? No. That was Bill." (Alex Turnbull, 2013, quote from: Stuart Jeffries, William Turnbull. Punk in the Genes, www.theguardian.com).
A little while ago the British Telegraph described Turnbull as central element of British Post War Art (cf. Alastair Sooke, Review: William Turnbull, Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, www.telegraph.co.uk from March 12, 2013). His undeviating artistic quest earned him early success. When he was selected to represent Britiain at the Venice Biennale in 1952 the exhibition "New Aspects of British Sculpture" was instantly met with international recognition. In 1973 the London Tate Gallery honored him with a first retrospective. His works are in possession of, among others, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D. C. and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. [CH]



152
William Turnbull
Figure, 1992.
Bronze with green-black patina
Estimate:
€ 100,000 / $ 108,000
Sold:
€ 143,750 / $ 155,250

(incl. surcharge)