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Lot Essay
'What is a man that I am not a man
Sitting cramped pupate in this Chrysalis?
My tongue is gagged with cud and lolls round words
To speak impeded of my legend death.
My horns lack weapon purpose, cannot kill
And cannot stab the curtain of the dark.'
Michael Ayrton
The idea of the maze and the mythological figures of Daedalus and Icarus and the Minotaur was one that pre-occupied Ayrton for much of his life. The final visual expression of the myth as conceived by the artist over 13 years was the Maze at Arkville, N.Y., built for the New York banker Armand G. Erpf and completed in 1968-69. Consisting of 1680 feet of stone pathways and brick walls eight feet high, at two hundred feet in diameter it was the largest labyrinth built since Classical antiquity. At the centre were two chambers, one for the Arkville Minotaur lined with red stucco, and the other, lined with polished bronze sheets for the Daedalus/Icarus Matrix II. Identifying himself with both characters, Ayrton gives the Minotaur human hands and feet, emphasising the tragic figure trapped both within its physical limitations and the maze itself. The Minotaur remained in his frustration at being unable to communicate fully with the world, a potent symbol for Michael Ayrton.
Cast in an edition of three, one cast is at the Arkville Maze, the other is owned by the Corporation of London. In addition Christie's sold the artist's cast on 18 November 2005, lot 118.
Sitting cramped pupate in this Chrysalis?
My tongue is gagged with cud and lolls round words
To speak impeded of my legend death.
My horns lack weapon purpose, cannot kill
And cannot stab the curtain of the dark.'
Michael Ayrton
The idea of the maze and the mythological figures of Daedalus and Icarus and the Minotaur was one that pre-occupied Ayrton for much of his life. The final visual expression of the myth as conceived by the artist over 13 years was the Maze at Arkville, N.Y., built for the New York banker Armand G. Erpf and completed in 1968-69. Consisting of 1680 feet of stone pathways and brick walls eight feet high, at two hundred feet in diameter it was the largest labyrinth built since Classical antiquity. At the centre were two chambers, one for the Arkville Minotaur lined with red stucco, and the other, lined with polished bronze sheets for the Daedalus/Icarus Matrix II. Identifying himself with both characters, Ayrton gives the Minotaur human hands and feet, emphasising the tragic figure trapped both within its physical limitations and the maze itself. The Minotaur remained in his frustration at being unable to communicate fully with the world, a potent symbol for Michael Ayrton.
Cast in an edition of three, one cast is at the Arkville Maze, the other is owned by the Corporation of London. In addition Christie's sold the artist's cast on 18 November 2005, lot 118.