Sitting Elektra Maquette VI

Details

Lynn Chadwick (b. 1914)
Sitting Elektra Maquette VI
signed, numbered and dated 'CHADWICK 70 584 0/6' (on the back of the base), and stamped with the foundry mark 'MORRIS/SINGER/FOUNDERS/LONDON' (on the back of the base)
bronze with a dark brown patina and polished face and torso
13 in. (33 cm.) high
Conceived in 1970

Literature

D. Farr and E. Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick Sculptor, Oxford, 1990, no. 584, p. 236, another cast illustrated.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The Elektra series were the first of Chadwick's bronzes to make use of polished surfaces, to the heads and often the breast and upper thorax. In explaining this Chadwick writes, 'In the case of the Elektras it was a double thing, I had the shiny bit, but obviously I couldn't have a totally shiny thing like some sculptors. But I could make it look as if it was almost applied to the bronze, like a shield - a breastplate sort of thing'. The polished surface of the breastplate could emphasise the softly feminine curves of the figures, bringing a new element of modelling. (see E. Lucie-Smith, Chadwick, Stroud, 1997, pp. 83-84).

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