Lynn Chadwick British, 1914-2003
Maquette for Conjunction II (219), 1957
Bronze
Height: 54 cm
Edition 3 of 9
The couple was an enduring subject throughout Lynn Chadwick’s long and productive career from the first sculptures of the early fifties through to the stainless steel seated figures of the...
The couple was an enduring subject throughout Lynn Chadwick’s long and productive career from the first sculptures
of the early fifties through to the stainless steel seated figures of the 1990’s. The early works see figures delicately constructed on spindly legs with beak like heads and show Chadwicks mastery of technique developed during his self-imposed training in welding at British Oxygen in 1950.
In this excellent example of Chadwick's striking early work 'Conjunction' is literally taken to be the conjoining of two figures in this case in movement. The precise joining of structural rods and the elegant draughtsmanship work as a perfect complement to the subject matter; any hint of over-romanticism is skilfully eclipsed by the bold joining of the figures at the hip. Possibly an overt reference to contemporary dance Chadwick reduces traditional figuration to triangulated shapes with electrode-like construct of the bird-beak heads with just enough reference to tell the genders apart.
These figures along with others of the period have something of the architectural about them, they have been set dynamically to oppose each other and exude a vitality purely expressed by the abstract disposition of the lines, planes and angles.
During the late fifties and early sixties, Chadwick’s dexterity in this method invigorated the most geometric of forms with vital energy and even at his most abstract retained a connection to the figures of which Conjunction X and Split, both paired down to essential elements, are good examples.
of the early fifties through to the stainless steel seated figures of the 1990’s. The early works see figures delicately constructed on spindly legs with beak like heads and show Chadwicks mastery of technique developed during his self-imposed training in welding at British Oxygen in 1950.
In this excellent example of Chadwick's striking early work 'Conjunction' is literally taken to be the conjoining of two figures in this case in movement. The precise joining of structural rods and the elegant draughtsmanship work as a perfect complement to the subject matter; any hint of over-romanticism is skilfully eclipsed by the bold joining of the figures at the hip. Possibly an overt reference to contemporary dance Chadwick reduces traditional figuration to triangulated shapes with electrode-like construct of the bird-beak heads with just enough reference to tell the genders apart.
These figures along with others of the period have something of the architectural about them, they have been set dynamically to oppose each other and exude a vitality purely expressed by the abstract disposition of the lines, planes and angles.
During the late fifties and early sixties, Chadwick’s dexterity in this method invigorated the most geometric of forms with vital energy and even at his most abstract retained a connection to the figures of which Conjunction X and Split, both paired down to essential elements, are good examples.
