Vitalism iii 2017 We grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s when British post-war sculpture was the epitome of Modern Art. Linear, craggy forms with earthy textures and patinas defined post-war culture with a freedom that enabled and influenced our expectations of art as well as all subsequent sculptural movements. This new freedom is evident in the exploration of fresh techniques and materials and the instinctive ‘drawing in space’ made possible by the use of welded metal. Drawing was the essential preoccupation of almost all post-war artists, not only in the sense of Paul Klee’s famous words ‘taking a line for a walk’ but as a means of recreating personal worlds through the use of line. It could then so easily be reinterpreted in three dimensions: the fused and repeated lines of John Hoskin’s work, the implied lines modelled in clay by F.E. McWilliam and Kenneth Armitage, Lynn Chadwick’s geometric constructions or Reg Butler’s organic, curved, linear progressions. All these artists shared a determination to celebrate the physical process of ‘making’ by leaving it visible on the finished surface. It is this proximity to their creative journey that gives so much vitality to the sculptures of this time. Looking back now that more than 60 years have passed, it is difficult to imagine quite how avant-garde these sculptors and their work were. In their time, British journalists and commentators were not immediately enthused, unlike their continental colleagues who had embraced the New British Sculpture of the Venice Biennale of 1952. One notable exception was Herbert Read, who championed these sculptors tirelessly and provided a poetic and literary interpretation of their work that continues to be seen as a primary and contemporary context. We are fortunate in being able to include in our exhibition some exceptional sculptures, as well as drawings and prints. Their freshness and vitality of imagery are as dynamic on paper as they are in the sculptural work, all illustrating the ‘visual thinking’ and vital energy inherent in the work of this period. Standing Figure 1961 Lynn Chadwick Ink & Wash Gallery Pangolin Unique 62.5 x 44cm f.e. mcWilliam 1909 - 1992 Cruciform 1959 Bronze Edition 1/3 35.5cm high Waking Up Figure 1962 Bronze Edition 2/5 22cm high Study for Dance 1956 Ink Unique 31 x 47cm Study For Witch Of Agnesi 1959 Bronze Edition 2/3 27cm high ReG BUtleR 1913 - 1981 Girl on Back 2 1956 Bronze Edition 6/8 21cm high Figure in Space 1954 Girl 1951 Lithograph Bronze EI 3/4 from an Edition of 12 Edition 5/8 31 x 48.5cm 24cm high Figure from Musee Imaginaire 1961 Figure from Musee Imaginaire 1961 Bronze Bronze Edition 9/9 Edition 9/9 17cm high 21.5cm high Figure with English Newspaper 1955 Lithograph Edition 10/20 47.5 x 30cm Ophelia L 1955-6 Bronze Edition 8/8 51cm high lYNN CHaDWiCK 1914 - 2003 Dance 1957 Dance III 1955 Ink Bronze Unique Edition 3/9 45 x 53cm 53cm high Teddy Boy & Girl IV 1955 Ink & Wash Unique 50 x 40.5cm Teddy Boy and Girl 1979 Bronze EA1 from an Edition of 6 200cm high Untitled 1968 (detail) Ink & Monoprint Unique 61.5 x 45cm Twister II 1962 Bronze Edition 4/4 109cm high BeRNaRD meaDOWs 1915 - 2005 Head of Fallen Bird 1959 Bronze Unnumbered cast from an Edition of 6 28cm high Head of Bird 1956 Pencil & Watercolour Unique 27.5 x 29cm Head of Bird (Bird) 1956 Wounded Bird 1956 Pencil & Watercolour Bronze Unique Edition 1/6 30 x 25cm 20cm high Study for Sculpture II 1964 Shot Bird 1964 Pencil & Watercolour Bronze Unique Edition 2/6 25 x 21cm 39cm high KeNNetH aRmitaGe 1916 -2002 Mother and Child 1953 Standing Figure 1955 Lithograph Bronze Edition 25/50 Edition size unknown 44.5 x 29.5cm 72cm high Courtesy The Ingram Collection of Modern British Art Girl with Skirt 1962 Charcoal Unique 37 x 46cm Family Going for a Walk 1954 People in the Wind 1951 Lithograph Bronze Edition 11/24 Edition 2/6 36.5 x 45.5cm 65cm high Sitting Figures 1960 Lithograph Edition 83/300 40 x 57.5cm JOHN HOsKiN 1921 - 1990 Figure 1957 Figure (date unknown) Welded Steel Welded Steel Unique Unique 17cm high 19cm high Untitled (date unknown) Ink & Wash Unique 54.5 x 37cm Hammer Head (date unknown) Welded Steel Unique 38.5cm high Untitled 7 1960 Untitled I 1963 Gouache Welded Steel Unique Unique 40 x 58.5cm 58cm high GeORGe fUllaRD 1923 - 1973 Head 1960 Bronze One known cast 66cm high Reclining Woman 1961 Stick Figure 1959 Pencil Bronze Unique Unnumbered cast from an Edition of 2 56 x 38cm 68.5cm high Head 1961 Bronze One Known Cast 47.5cm high Head 1957 Ink Unique 50.5 x 47cm Pregnant Woman 1959 Wooden Assemblage Unique 61cm high eDUaRDO PaOlOZZi 1924 - 2005 Untitled 1968 Chromed Steel Unique 46cm high Untitled Collage I 1968 Collage Unique 19 x 26cm Untitled 1968 Polished Bronze Edition of 3 13cm high Untitled Collage II 1968 Collage Unique 20.5 x 25cm GeOffReY ClaRKe 1924 - 2014 Painting for Textiles VIII c. 1955 Symbol for Man XV 1954 Watercolour & Gouache Brazed Steel Unique Unique 13.5 x 21cm 23cm high Man February 1950 Sugar-lift Aquatint Edition 7/25 48.5 x 32cm Man 1954 Iron Unique 28.5cm high Birth of a Flower 1951 Sugar-lift Aquatint Edition 25/50 24 x 47.5 cm Symbol for Man XIV 1954 Brazed Steel on Aluminium Unique 12cm high RalPH BROWN 1928 - 2013 Head of Queen 1963 Bronze Edition 4/8 43cm high Clochard 1955-56 Bronze Edition 1/6 168cm long × 30cm high Figure/Head 1963 Pencil Unique 23.5 x 17cm Divers 1959-60 Bronze Edition 4/8 48cm high elisaBetH fRiNK 1930 - 1993 Spinning Man 1960 Bronze Edition Unknown 12cm high Small Soldier Head 1964 Spaceman 1960 Bronze Pencil A/C from an Edition of 7 Unique 21cm high 76 X 51cm Head 1965 Watercolour Unique 75.5 x 56cm Bird 1960 Untitled 1963 Charcoal Watercolour Unique Unique 75.5 x 49.5cm 78.5 x 59cm Catalogue Design: Gallery Pangolin Photography: Steve Russell Studios Printing: Healeys Print Group GALLERY PANGOLIN 9 CHALFORD IND ESTATE CHALFORD GLOS GL6 8NT T: 01453 889765 F: 01453 889762 E: [email protected] www.gallery-pangolin.com .