Later Alligator

Details

Lynn Chadwick, R.A. (1914-2003)
Later Alligator
Iron and composition, unique
48 in. (121.9 cm.)
Conceived in 1961.

Literature

A.M. Hammacher, Die Entwicklung der modernen Skulptur; Tradition and Erneurung, 1973, no. 312, pl. 352.
N. Koster and P. Levine, Leiden, 1988, pp. 83, 104, illustrated.
D. Farr & E. Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick, Stroud, 1997, p. 170, no. 347, illustrated.
E. Lucie-Smith, Chadwick, Stroud, 1997, pp. 52, 67, pl. 34.

Exhibited

London, Marlborough Fine Art, October - November 1966, no. 2.

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Lot Essay

'Often, when Chadwick casts back to an earlier work, seeking inspiration for a new one, he seems to do so filled with a spirit of contradiction. An especially striking instance is the charmingly titled Later Alligator - the two words come from a well-known catchphrase of the period. The direct ancestor of this sculpture is clearly The Seasons of 1955 which similarly pairs a triangular form on stilts with a more freely shaped form; in this case, it is now an openwork one shaped like a half-furled umbrella. By some mysterious alchemy, Later Alligator loses any allegorical connotations in the conjunction of shapes, and becomes a light-hearted caricature of two people - male and female - saying goodbye to one another. The spirit of Teddy Boy and Teddy Girl is thus revived in a different form' (E. Lucie-Smith, Chadwick, Stroud, 1997, pp. 49, 52).

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