Page 22 - Studio International - March 1965

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1 background, is more difficult to assess within a Lynn Chadwick and Kenneth Armitage both made con­
George Fullard
Mounted Infant 1963 national framework. A romantic quality, concern for the siderable reputations with similar spiky, figurative sculp­
Bronze 77 x 36 x 44 in. destiny of man, is there, despite the robot imagery. ture. In recent years they have made valiant efforts to
Marlborough Fine Art Ltd.
2 Gradually he has managed to trim the decorated break through their limitations into forms of wider
Michael Ayrton dialectic in his work to reveal barer, more impressive significance. At Battersea. Chadwick showed a huge
Maze Maker
Bronze bones. It is still traditional image-making-man in his iron winged figure and Armitage has experimented with
Grosvenor Gallery
J dilemma, but presented with theatrical bravura and funnel-like shafts and metal slabs.
Laurence Burt technical ingenuity. After Moore, the major figure in British sculpture is
Astra-Helmet II
Welded Steel Geoffrey Clarke, far too long absorbed in architectural Barbara Hepworth. She resists the human form, but like
26 X 34 X 23 1n. commissions, is another, and in my view impressive Moore tames nature yet leaves it majestic, reassuring
Drian Gallery
twist on the same rope. In a somewhat unnerving us that the Earth Goddess is approachable although
manner. dramatic yet not theatrical, he has taken his mysterious. But unlike Brancusi, and to a lesser extent
imagery not from man's reflection. but from the natural Arp. Hepworth has not developed sufficiently or re­
structure of man and other living forms. This is much invented from a few original forms. These are often of
nearer the essential quality in Moore. Clarke is tough great beauty and potency, carved by a master hand. but
and unsentimental. There is no empty rhetoric in his as with painters of the stature of. say. de Stael. they
huge structures; no anecdote. no preaching. no moralis­ cannot be stretched to depths beyond their capacity.
ing. Awe, wonder and an indefinable reassurance are The omission of Leon Underwood from the Tate survey
present in his work. is only explainable on the grounds of his isolation. but

this 74-year-old artist is an important link with Cubist
sculpture and has shown an admirable staying-power.
On the subject of omissions. without any attempt at an
exhaustive check-up. I was surprised not to find John
Warren Davis, Laurence Burt or David Partridge on the
list. The fact that they may not yet have found wide­
spread acceptance or international fame, is no excuse.
since their work is well known to those responsible and
certainly displays greater originality than much included.
Warren Davis in particular, in his last exhibition, con­
firmed a mature talent. Burt works in polished steel
with power and assurance and Partridge is much
admired for his ingenious nail constructions.
Of the younger artists Turnbull is closest to Hepworth.
There is a similarly austere purity in his trunk-like shapes
and subtle decoration. Whilst in Hepworth the sexual
symbolism is discreetly suggested. Turnbull thrusts it
in your face. He has now turned to welded columns,
rather like bent stove-pipes.
Peter Startup and John Warren Davis both work in
wood and have something in common with Hepworth
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