Wild Thing
dal 23/10/2009 al 23/1/2010
Segnalato da
23/10/2009
Wild Thing
Royal Academy of Arts, London
The exhibition contains more than 90 works featuring mainly sculptures, drawings and pastels by Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Eric Gill. With rooms dedicated to the work of each sculptor the exhibition focuses on the key achievements of each artist and reveals their impact on British sculpture. The show brings together spectacular works, including Epstein's robotic masterpiece Rock Drill, Gaudier-Brzeska's innovative carving of Birds Erect, and Gill's controversial carving of the sexual act called Ecstasy.
curated by Richard Cork
Over a period of 10 years from 1905 to 1915, three outstanding young sculptors emerged in Britain; Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Eric Gill. The radical impact of their work was to transform British sculpture. This exhibition is the first time that the three artists have been shown together in this revolutionary context and many of the works have not been exhibited in London before.
The exhibition contains more than 90 works featuring mainly sculptures, drawings and pastels. With rooms dedicated to the work of each sculptor the exhibition focuses on the key achievements of each artist and reveals their impact on British sculpture. The show brings together spectacular works, including Epstein’s robotic masterpiece Rock Drill, Gaudier-Brzeska’s innovative carving of Birds Erect, and Gill’s controversial carving of the sexual act called Ecstasy.
The title of this exhibition is taken from the American poet Ezra Pound, who vividly remembered meeting Henri Gaudier-Brzeska for the first time in 1913. Pound was impressed by the young Frenchman, and likened him to “a well-made young wolf or some soft-moving, bright-eyed wild thing.” But those last two words also sum up the feisty and daring spirit of rebellion driving the young Jacob Epstein and Eric Gill.
This unprecedented exhibition explores the body of work executed by the three sculptors and draws on the major themes that impressed upon the men, namely sex, fertility, the human condition, the machine age and the impact of war. The works convey the momentous sense of
change taking place in London and the world at the start of the twentieth century.
Organisation
Wild Thing: Epstein, Gaudier-Brzeska, Gill has been organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London. The exhibition has been curated by historian Richard Cork, a leading expert on this period and Adrian Locke, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Image: Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, 'Red Stone Dancer', c.1913. Red Mansfield stone, 35 x 60 x 40 cm. Tate, London. Photo ©Tate, London 2009
Open Saturday 24 October 2009
Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House Piccadilly, London
10am – 6pm daily (last admission 5.30pm)
Adults £9, Concessions £8 (seniors, disabled, NADFAS etc),Students £7