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Lot Essay
Sarah Kent (A Bestiary for our time, the sculpture of Elisabeth Frink, reproduced in B. Robertson, op. cit., p. 60) comments on the present work, 'The Assassins (1963) come in pairs, their identities hidden behind masks, helmets or hoods. Their appearance implies a ruthless dehumanization, but they are not robots - there is none of Chadwick's science-fiction romance or Paolozzi's whimsical ridicule in these figures. They are hired killers who carry out their tasks efficiently, anonymously and without mercy, but they are also sensate human beings responsible for their actions and aware of their moral implications.
Nor can these men be dismissed as dictators' hencemen - the long arm of tyranny and, therefore, beyond the moral pale. The references to armour and other military equipment suggest that they could be a couple of soldiers sent on a special mission. Frink makes no distinction between one form or murder and another. These sculptures imply that there can be no excuses for cruelty - no 'just' wars'.
Nor can these men be dismissed as dictators' hencemen - the long arm of tyranny and, therefore, beyond the moral pale. The references to armour and other military equipment suggest that they could be a couple of soldiers sent on a special mission. Frink makes no distinction between one form or murder and another. These sculptures imply that there can be no excuses for cruelty - no 'just' wars'.