Page 21 - Studio International - March 1965

The Phenomenon of British Sculpture

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of the human form. the maimed torsoes of Ralph Brown.
Reg Butler. Meadows, Clatworthy, Elisabeth Frink.
McWilliam and Oliffe Richmond. To depict the human
form in an agonised pose. without a limb. or with its
head and feet a mess of unformed matter. as a parable
of tragedy is just as sentimental and weak as a Vic­
torian equating a naturalistic female nude with happi­
ness. Moore never mutilates. never leaves ends un­
finished or devises sordid surfaces as a short cut to
artistic statement.
In the C.A.S. exhibition at the Tate Gallery thirty
artists are included; by adding Michael Ayrton and
Austin Wright to those already referred to. it will be
seen what a dominating group Moore's followers make.
I have referred to them as Humanists in the sense that
they are inspired by the human body. They can also
be described as anecdotal or literary, a very English
manner. Some, like Ayrton and Meadows are concerned
with historical or literary figures. Almost all appear to be
involved in story-telling, showing one incident in a
longer sequence. particularly Ralph Brown or Elisabeth
Frink. from some sort of baroque drama.
There is undoubted talent in this group and much
promise. but only if Moore's dictum and example of
evolving original yet universal forms is followed.
That it is possible to be involved in the human form.
and even in some kind of story-telling, and yet retain
individuality, is demonstrated by George Fullard.
Eduardo Paolozzi and Geoffrey Clarke. Fullard is
nothing if not anecdotal. but he has the courage to face
up to it and to seek the means of presenting his com­
ments with Becket-like irony. He is. incidentally, the
only sculptor at the Tate working in assemblage, a
medium widely used in Europe and the United States
by artists as diverse as Kemeny, Louise Nevelson. Pol
Bury, Vic Gentils and others. Perhaps the superficial
frivolity of the medium offends our native Puritanism.
Paolozzi. as one might expect from his Scottish-Italian

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Kenneth Armitage
Pandarus 9 1964
Bronze· height 73 in.
Marlborough Fine Art Ltd.
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Hubert Oalwood
O.A.S. Assassins 1 962
Aluminium 30 x 23 in.
Gimpel Ftls Gallery
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Reg Butler
Study for A Great Tower 1963
Height 11 in.
Hanover Gallery
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F. E. McWilliam
Hooped figure 1964
Bronze 35 x 19 x 20 in.
Waddington Galeries
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