Standing Figure

Details

Kenneth Armitage, R.A. (1916-2002)
Standing Figure
signed with initials 'KA' (on the base)
bronze with a grey green patina
45¼ in. (114.8 cm.) high
Conceived in 1956-57.

Provenance

Marilyn Spilke, Marilyn and Saul Spilke Foundation, Dobbs Ferry, New York.

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, Kenneth Armitage: a retrospective exhibition of sculpture and drawings based upon the XXIX Venice Biennale of 1958, London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1959, p. 11, no. 28, another cast illustrated.
N. Lynton, Kenneth Armitage, London, 1962, n.p., plaster cast illustrated.
T. Woollcombe, Kenneth Armitage: Life and Work, London, 1997, p. 48, no. KA64, another cast illustrated.
J. Scott and C. Milburn, The Sculpture of Kenneth Armitage, London, 2016, p. 109, no. 63, another cast illustrated.

Exhibited

London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Kenneth Armitage: a retrospective exhibition of sculpture and drawings based upon the XXIX Venice Biennale of 1958, July - August 1959, no. 28, another cast exhibited.
Vienna, Contemporary Art Museum, another cast exhibited, on long term loan.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction. This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Brought to you by

Pippa Jacomb

pjacomb@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2293

Lot Essay

'Standing figure (1956-57) is the most naturalistic work of these years ... the figure reveals elements of mystery and mobility that no photograph can catch. The tautness of the back, tensed between arms and left leg, offers a framework to the soft forms of breasts and belly. It is a strange but not impossible pose, suggesting both an instant within a movement and a complete, self-sufficient pose; again one thinks of Degas, and of his animal women drying themselves after the bath or arranging their hair' (see N. Lynton, Kenneth Armitage, London, 1962, n.p.)

More from Modern British & Irish Art Day Sale

View All