Lot Essay
Peter Cannon-Brookes (op. cit.) writes of Ayrton's sculpture of this date, 'He turned to Donatello, Degas and Rodin in particular, and his first life-size bronze figure, Falcon Watcher (1954), is appreciably more sophisticated than Shepherd [also dating from 1954]. Originally exhibited in the Whitechapel Exhibition in 1955 as a plaster under the title of Figure watching the Flight of a Bird, one arm was changed and other slight modifications were made before casting in 1972'.
The plaster for this bronze dating from circa 1956 is illustrated in J. Hopkins, Michael Ayrton A Biography, 1994, between pp.114 and 115.
The plaster for this bronze dating from circa 1956 is illustrated in J. Hopkins, Michael Ayrton A Biography, 1994, between pp.114 and 115.