Study for The South Wind, London Underground Railway Headquarters Commission

Details

Eric Gill, A.R.A. (1882-1940)
Study for The South Wind, London Underground Railway Headquarters Commission
signed 'Gill' (lower right)
pencil and wash
2½ x 5½ in. (6.5 x 14 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 23 November 1993, lot 111, where purchased by the present owner.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

In January 1928, Eric Gill received a commission from the architect, Charles Holden, to carve three stone reliefs of figures for Winds for the exterior decoration of the new London Underground Railway Headquarters at 55 Broadway, above St. James's Park Station. Gill carved the East, West and South winds and led a small team of sculptors, made up of Eric Aumonier, A.H. Gerrard, Henry Moore, Samuel Rabinovitch and Allan Wyon each of whom carved one wind, making a total of eight.

The present lot is a study for the figure of the South Wind (reproduced in The Studio, 100, 1930, p. 231); the East and West Winds were male figures (see Exhibition catalogue, Barbican, London, Eric Gill Sculptures, 1992, p. 108).

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