PIONEERS OF MODERN BRITISH SCULPTURE OFFERED BY BONHAMS
A monumental work by Sir Anthony Caro, described by the Director of Tate Britain Stephen Deuchar, as “Britain’s most celebrated living sculptor”, will be offered in the 20th Century British Art sale on the 9th March at Bonhams, New Bond Street. Caro’s work is currently taking centre stage at the Royal Academy of Arts Modern British Sculpture Exhibition in London.
Conceived in 1976, the five metre, rusted and varnished steel sculpture entitled Lagoon is estimated to sell for £100,000 – 150,000. Caro is regarded as an artist who constantly pushes the boundaries of sculpture and throughout his career has endeavoured to create work that is truly abstract, without reference to anything else but itself. Through this exploration, Caro brought sculpture down to ground level by removing the traditional plinth. His sculptures are highly conceptual and as Deuchar has put it, Caro “effectively reinvented the language [of sculpture] itself.”
Caro’s sculptures are usually self supporting and sit directly on the floor and in doing so the barrier between the work and the viewer is removed.Lagoon is typical of Caro’s work in the 1970s, wherethe viewer is invited to approach and interact with the sculpture from all sides. Having moved away from figurative sculpture to abstraction in the 1960s, Lagoon clearly addresses issues of space, mass, scale, plane and materiality that lie at the heart of Caro's art.
Matthew Bradbury, Director of the 20th Century British Art department comments: “Lagoon' is a monumental work in steel, which can only really be fully appreciated when standing in front of it. Originally intended to stand out of doors in a parkland landscape this sculpture impresses in either an urban or rural environment. Among the largest pieces by Caro to be offered at auction the sale of 'Lagoon' is a rare opportunity to acquire a work by him on a vast scale.”
Other works of interest include six striking sculptures by Dame Elisabeth Frink, another important artist in the history of modern British sculpture. A bronze horse conceived in 1972 that is estimated to sell for £200,000 - £300,000 and a second, standing horse conceived in 1979 and estimated to sell for £60,000 – 80,000 both illustrate Frink’s skill of modelling and then carving the plaster maquette, before casting in bronze. Further works by Frink include:
*Standard Conceived in 1965 and cast as an edition of three, estimated £60,000 – 90,000
*Walking Baboon Conceived in 1989 and cast as an edition of nine, estimated £40,000-60,000
*Small figure with goggles Conceived in 1967 and cast as an edition of six, estimated £25,000-35,000
*Small Soldier Head estimate £10,000-15,000
Bonhams
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 27 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com
