University of Derby 'Towards Retreat': Modernism
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'Towards retreat' Item Type Thesis or dissertation Authors LeGrove, Judith Publisher University of Derby Download date 24/09/2021 07:40:08 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10545/299498 UNIVERSITY OF DERBY 'TOWARDS RETREAT': MODERNISM, CRAFTSMANSHIP AND SPIRITUALITY IN THE WORK OF GEOFFREY CLARKE Judith LeGrove Doctor of Philosophy 2007 Contents Abstract vii Abbreviations ix Acknowledgements x Introduction Overview of Clarke's work 1 Structure and Objectives of Thesis 2 Literature 4 Theoretical Framework 13 Sources 23 Methodology 25 Chapter One: Philosophy and Spirituality 27 Introduction 27 Theories of Art 31 Aesthetics: the Search for the Absolute 31 Theories of Creativity 39 Spirituality 48 The Spiritual Search 48 Landscape, Nature and Moral Purpose 53 Conclusion 62 Chapter Two: Symbolism and Form 65 Introduction 65 Symbolism 67 'Exposition ofa Belief 71 Themes 75 Man 75 Nature 83 The Reconciling Image 88 Form 91 Two-dimensionality 91 Architectural Form 92 Organicism 94 'Redfern' Sculpture (1964-5) 96 Conclusion 101 Chapter Three: Craftsmanship: Materials, Process, Applications 103 Introduction 103 Stained Glass 106 Leaded Glass 107 Glass Mosaic 111 'Sculptural' Glass 113 Printmaking 114 Etching 115 Monotype 117 Sculpture 118 Iron 119 Aluminium 126 Open-Casting 130 Full-Mould Casting 131 Wood 138 Conclusion 141 Chapter Four: Architectural and Design Projects 144 Introduction 144 Interconnected Spheres: Architecture, Sculpture and Symbolism 145 Attitudes to Collaboration 145 The Ideal: Architecture as Sculpture 150 The Probable: Sculpture Commissioned for Architecture 155 Commissions and Design Projects 157 Functional and Design-led Works 158 Ecclesiastical Fittings 160 Gates, Screens and Doors 162 Interiors 163 Symbolic Works 167 The Attainment of Knowledge 168 The Conjunction of Science and Religion 170 Plant Forms 174 Conclusion 176 Conclusion 178 Introduction 178 Steiner's 'Nostalgia for the Absolute': Alternative Mythologies 179 The Mo(ve)ment of Modernism 182 Read and British Modernism 183 Shifting Identities 184 Spirituality: The Root of the 'Modem' Problem 188 Bibliography 190 Abstract Currently, Geoffrey Clarke (b 1924) is best known for his work in iron, exhibited with the group of 'young' British sculptors at the 1952 Venice Biennale: Robert Adams, Kenneth Armitage, Reg Butler, Lynn Chadwick, Bernard Meadows, Eduardo Paolozzi, and William Turnbull. Through this group, which Read identified as 'participating in a general revival of the art of sculpture', Clarke touched the circle of the British avant-garde in the early 19508, gaining prominence and a considerable degree of notoriety for his work. While Clarke's work in no way supported Read's interpretation of intent - that the new sculpture transmitted a collective guilt, an 'iconography of despair' - it did accord with Read in propounding art as a psychological construct, and in reflecting an awareness of the current interest in Jungian psychoanalysis. Throughout his career, Clarke has repeatedly engaged with issues of British modernism (a definition of which will be one aim of this thesis). In the early 1960s he changed his medium to aluminium; developing his own, fast method of casting using expanded polystyrene, subjecting his sculpture to a process of increased abstraction and inviting comparison with Caro's sculpture and the fonnalist criticism of Greenberg. In the late 1960s he produced a series of landscape works which paralleled the work of Richard Long and other 'land' artists. Clarke also experimented in the early 19708 with the extension of sculpture from purely visual parameters, for instance using aroma as a constituent, or involving the active participation of the viewer. This thesis seeks to address the current critical neglect of Clarke's work by contextualising his work in relation to that of other sculptors and by identifying those aspects which are innovative or particular. His work is thus considered from four viewpoints. 'Philosophy and Spirituality' considers the sources of the artist's beliefs. 'Symbolism and Form' traces the formation of Clarke's visual imagery and its application. 'Craftsmanship: Materials, Processes, Applications' examines Clarke's experimental approach to materials and his commitment to creating his own work. Finally, 'Architectural and Design Projects' discusses issues of collaboration and patronage and how the elements of spirituality, symbolism, craftsmanship and creative purpose function in the artist's work. Issues relating to notions of vii modernism and postmodernism are discussed throughout the text and drawn together in the Conclusion, which also suggests reasons for the artist's critical neglect. viii Abbreviations AA Architectural Association CAl Council for Art and Industry ClAM Congres International d' Architecture Moderne ColD Council of Industrial Design DIA Design and Industries Association DRU Design Research Unit ICA Institute of Contemporary Arts LPTB London Public Transport Board MARS Modern Architecture Research Group RA Royal Academy of Arts RCA Royal College of Art RIBA Royal Institute of British Architects Illustrations LS Sculpture Appendix A LG Glass AppendixB LP Prints Appendix C The illustrations to this thesis are presented in the form of three catalogues: Appendix A (Sculpture), Appendix B (Stained Glass) and Appendix C (Prints). References within the text of the thesis cite a catalogue number, which is formed of three elements. The initial letters indicate the cataloguer's initial (L) and the format of the work (8 for sculpture, G for glass, P for prints). The following number identifies the individual work within that catalogue. Further information about the format of each catalogue appears in its introductory pages. ix Acknowledgements The author would like to thank all those who have assisted in the research for this thesis. Dr Jenny Doctor and Ron Howell provided the inspiration to begin the project, and Dr Robert Burstow, as Director of Studies, has given guidance and encouragement throughout. Thanks are due to all those who have supplied information about commissions or provided access to works: the priests of All Saints' (Langley), All Saints' (Stretford), the Church of the Ascension (Crownhill), the Church of the Holy Cross (Blackpool), Christchurch (Thornton), St Ambrose's (Pendleton), St Andrew's (Woking), St Clements' (Lower Broughton), St Margaret's (King's Lynn), the archivists at Lincoln Cathedral and Churchill College (Cambridge), the head verger at Chichester Cathedral and the staff at Canford SChool, Civic College (Ipswich), Exeter University, Manchester Art College, Martlesham Police Headquarters, Newcastle Civic Centre, St John the Baptist Primary School (Leicester), Taunton Deane Crematorium, West Suffolk Hospital, Winchester College and the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. Grateful thanks are also due to the staff of the Henry Moore Institute and Tate Gallery Archive, the Fine Art Society, Geoff Miller, Tim Holding, John LeGrove and Jonathan Clarke. Above all, however, thanks are due to the artist for his patient help throughout the project and for his generosity in making all archival material available for study. x Introduction Overview of Clarke's Work The work of Geoffrey Clarke (b 1924) has been considered most frequently in relation to the group of British sculptors with whom he exhibited at the 1952 Venice Biennale: Robert Adams, Kenneth Armitage, Reg Butler, Lynn Chadwick, Bernard Meadows, Eduardo Paolozzi and William Turnbull. Knowledge of Clarke's early work in iron has benefited recently from a rising interest in art of the 1950s, as witnessed by James Hyman's fiftieth-anniversary recreation of the Biennale exhibition, David Hulks' psychoanalytical study of the sculpture itself, the Tate Gallery's acquisition of Complexities of Man (1950; LS003) and the Fine Art Society's exhibition of etchings from 1950: Despite this revival, however, Clarke's work - widely acclaimed in Britain from the early 1950s to mid-1960s - today remains far from well-known.2 The reasons for this current lack of recognition stem from a number of factors. During a career lasting over fifty years Clarke's work has undergone frequent changes in method of construction, materials and style. The work itself is to be found in numerous formats, from domestic or gaUery works to site specific architectural commissions to conceptual pieces intended to be created, completed or activated by the observer. Such variety presents the curator with difficulty of categorisation and the public with problems of recognition, hindering both its inclusion in exhibitions and the establishment of a realistic market value. A brief survey of Clarke's work indicates, most noticeably, experimentation with a wide range of materials. In the early to mid-1950s he used iron, stained glass, enamel and printmaking techniques (etching, lithography and monotype) to create linear images of 'man'. By the late 1950s, when he was receiving regular architectural commissions, he had adopted aluminium, first open-casting, then developing his own, fast technique of casting using expanded polystyrene. Formally, I 'Henry Moore and the Geometry of Fear' (James Hyman Fine Art. 2002); David Hulks, 'The dark chaos of subjectivisms: Splitting and the geometry of fear', in Brandon Taylor (ed.), Sculpture and Psychoanalysis, Subject/Object: New Studies in Sculpture (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2006); 'Geoffiey Clarke: 1950' (Fine Art Society, 2006). The Tate Gallery acquired Complexities 0/ Man in 2003. 2 Clarke was