Towards a New World: Sculpture in Post-War Britain

Reg Butler - Study for Third Watcher, 1954

"These new images belong to the iconography of despair, or of defiance; and the more innocent the artist, the more effectively he transmits the collective guilt. Here are images of flight or ragged claws 'scuttling across the floors of silent seas', of excoriated flesh, frustrated sex, the geometry of fear." - Herbert Read.

And thus art critic Herbert Read coined an original term for a new group of British sculptors emerging from the horrors of war, in an age of anxiety with US and Soviet tensions but looking towards the future. This 'geometry of fear' groups sculptures moved away from the smooth flowing forms of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth that had previously dominated the scene, to something altogether more angular, spindly and more confrontational. In a show called New Aspects of British Sculpture, which Read curated at the 1952 British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, an international audience was introduced to this new wave of sculptors which included Kenneth Armitage (1916-2002), Reg Butler (1913-1981), Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003), Geoffrey Clarke (1924-2014), Bernard Meadows (1915-2005), Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005), and William Turnbull (1922-2012). The raw finish of much of the sculptures of this group was influenced by the works of Alberto Giacometti and an exhibition of French sculptor Germaine Richier's work that had been exhibited in London five years prior to the Venice Biennale show. Richier created distorted animal-hybrid sculptures with rough textural finishes. Distorted figures became an identifiable feature for most of the geometry of fear sculptors as did the use of animal imagery such as crabs and birds as metaphors for human behaviours and emotions. The rise of industrialisation processes and post-war recovery were other aspects incorporated into the development of the paintings and sculptures of the group. This is a fascinating small exhibition focusing mainly on sculpture, though it was great to see some Alan Reynolds paintings on display (previously with Prunella Clough here), as well as some Paolozzi and Sutherland drawings. The work of sculptor Reg Butler in particular stands out here. The upper gallery space displaying his studies and finished sculptures of the female form is particularly strong. Certain pieces brought to mind Degas' graceful bronze sculptural studies of ballerinas. This period in British art history was examined beautifully in an expanded show last year at the Barbican (here) which featured not just paintings and sculpture but installation, ceramics and photography too. The work of Lynn Chadwick fell under the spotlight at an equally good show at Pangolin also charting the influences on his work in that same post-war period (here).

Installation View

Kenneth Armitage - Seated Woman with Square Head, 1955 

Alan Reynolds - The Village Fair, 1952

Reg Butler - Figure in Space, 1958-59

Reg Butler - Figure in Space, 1958-59

Alan Reynolds - January Landscape, 1952-53

Reg Butler - Study for Third Watcher, 1954

Francis Bacon - Deuxième version du Triptyche, 1944 after Second version of the Triptych 1944, 1988, 1989

Prunella Clough - Man with Printing Press, 1953

Prunella Clough - Factory Interior (Wool Carding Shop), 1954

Reg Butler - Manipulator, 1954-56

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi - Untitled, 1953

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi - Drawing for Sculpture, Head (I), 1954

Reg Butler - Tcheekle (The Tower that Grows in the Night, 1960-62

Kenneth Armitage - Sprawling Woman, 1957

Reg Butler - Study for Sculpture - St Catherine, 1953

Geoffrey Clarke - Head (Found Object), 1953

Geoffrey Clarke - Effigy, 1951

Kenneth Armitage - Linked Figures, 1949

Kenneth Armitage - Untitled, 1958

Bernard Meadows - Large 'Jesus' Crab (Larger Spider Crab), 1952-4

Reg Butler - Dream, 1962

Reg Butler - Macaw's Head, 1960-62

Graham Sutherland - Organic Form, 1948

Graham Sutherland - Study for Horned Forms, 1960

Graham Sutherland - Tree Form at Convergence of Paths, 1945

Reg Butler - Dream Machine, 1962

Geoffrey Clarke - Figure, 1952

Geoffrey Clarke - Figure, 1952 (detail)

Elizabeth Frink - Warrior, 1963

Installation View

Reg Butler - Fetish, 1954, Girl on Back, 2, 1956, Head and Shoulders (Arm Up), 1956, Seated Girl, 1965

Lynn Chadwick - Study for Encounter, 1957

Lynn Chadwick - Boy & Girl, 1959

Lynn Chadwick - Watcher VI, 1961

Lynn Chadwick - Drawing for Two Winged Figures, 1957

Lynn Chadwick - Study for Trig, 1968

Bernard Meadows - Untitled (Triptych), 1954

Bernard Meadows - Untitled - 'Studies after Two Cock Relief', 1955

Bernard Meadows - Cock, 1958

Bernard Meadows - Maquette for Fallen Bird, c. 1958

Reg Butler - Woman in Stays, 1956, Circus, 1959, Girl 59 Chrysanthemum, 1959, Study for a Girl, 1959

Reg Butler - Study for Figure Bending, 2, 1959

Reg Butler - Bride, 1954-61

Reg Butler - Girl on a Round Base, 1964

Reg Butler - Woman, 1957-58

Reg Butler - Woman, 1964

Towards a New World: Sculpture in Post-War Britain

until 22nd April

Marlborough Fine Art London

6 Albemarle Street

London

W1S