Study for Winged Figures, 1968

Lynn Russel Chadwick  

This work on paper is the painted study for Chadwick's lithograph , produced in 1968 and printed in a limited edition of 75 by Erker Presse, St. Gallen, Switzerland. Signed and dated by the artist in the lower right.

The composition shows Chadwick at the height of his geometric period: angular, wing-like forms radiate from a central axis, rendered in yellow gouache and dense hatched ink. The tension between the rigid triangular planes and the implied movement of flight is characteristic of the work that made him one of the leading sculptors of postwar Britain. He had won the International Sculpture Prize at the Venice Biennale in 1956, beating Alberto Giacometti, and his reputation in the late 1960s was at its peak.

As a preparatory work, this gouache occupies a rare position between Chadwick's sculptural practice and his printmaking. The lithograph itself is exceptionally scarce, with no known auction records. The painted study is rarer still.

Signed and dated lower right. The work is presented with a passepartout in a gilt frame, glazed, ready to hang, shipped in a custom-built wooden crate.