Sharp Structure

Details

William Gear, R.A. (1915-1997)
Sharp Structure
signed and dated 'Gear 53' (lower right); signed again, inscribed and dated 'Gear/June '53/''SHARP STRUCTURE''' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas, unframed
14¾ x 23¾ in.

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Lot Essay

The present work portrays the new sharpness that entered Gear's work in the 1950s. Gear antecedently used earth colours and grid-like compositions in the 1940s characteristic of the School of Paris at that time. This work relates to the forms expressing anxiety that emerged in the new British sculpture after the Second World War, seen particularly in the work of Reg Butler, Kenneth Armitage and Lynn Chadwick. It was painted in the same year as the Unknown Political Prisoner Competition, won by Reg Butler.

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