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Lot Essay
THIS LARGE CONSTRUCTED PIECE IS THE FIRST WORKING OF ONE OF CHADWICK'S MOST CELEBRATED SCULPTURES. THE THEME OF TWO DANCING FIGURES WAS ONE THAT CHADWICK RETURNED TO ON MANY OCCASIONS AS IT INCORPORATED THE ARTICULATION OF POSE AND ATTITUDE WHICH WERE OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE TO HIS WORK. "THE IMPORTANT THING IN MY FIGURES IS ALWAYS THE ATTITUDE - WHAT THE FIGURES ARE EXPRESSING THROUGH THEIR ACTUAL STANCE," HE HAS SAID, "I WANT THEM TO TALK AS IT WERE, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND." (CITED IN E. LUCIE-SMITH, LYNN CHADWICK, LONDON 1997, P. 48).
EXECUTED IN 1956, DANCING FIGURES WAS AT THE TIME A REVOLUTIONARY AND HIGHLY PROVOCATIVE CONTEMPORARY WORK IN BOTH ITS STYLE, SUBJECT MATTER AND MANNER OF EXECUTION. BASING HIS FIGURES ON THE IMAGE OF A TEDDY BOY AND GIRL DANCING THE JIVE, CHADWICK OPENLY CELEBRATED THE FIRST FASHION STYLE TO BE SET BY THE WORKING-CLASS. IN USING THE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS OF CONCRETE LIKE COMPOSITION AND STEEL TO ACHIEVE HIS IMAGE, CHADWICK WAS ALSO BREAKING AWAY FROM THE TRADITION OF CARVED OR MOULDED SCULPTURE THAT HAD ALWAYS EXISTED IN EUROPE, WHILST AT THE SAME TIME DRAWING ON HIS EXPERIENCE AS AN ARCHITECT. IN HIS USE OF ABSTRACTION AND GEOMETRY TO CONVEY THE RHYTHMIC MOVEMENT OF THE DANCING FIGURES, THE ARTIST SEEMED TO BE ANTHROPOMORPHOSIZING THESE FORMS, WHILE CONVEYING A HIGHLY EXPRESSIVE AND STARTLING IMAGE OF A ROBOTIC HUMANITY.
RHYTHMICALLY SWAYING AROUND AN AXIS POINT THAT IS CENTRED IN THE GENITAL REGION, THE TWO FIGURES SEEM ROOTED BY A SOMEWHAT BESTIAL SEXUALITY, WHILE THE ARTICULATION OF THEIR BODIES SUGGESTS A CERTAIN MECHANISED AND FORMULATED RHYTHM. THEIR ARMLESS TORSOS AND POINTED, STYLISED HEADS CONVEY AN ANONYMITY AND EMOTIONAL EMPTINESS THAT IS HIGHLY ALIENATING. THE OVERALL EFFECT IS ONE OF A TWIN TOWERED MONUMENT TO THE MODERN AGE.
EXECUTED IN 1956, DANCING FIGURES WAS AT THE TIME A REVOLUTIONARY AND HIGHLY PROVOCATIVE CONTEMPORARY WORK IN BOTH ITS STYLE, SUBJECT MATTER AND MANNER OF EXECUTION. BASING HIS FIGURES ON THE IMAGE OF A TEDDY BOY AND GIRL DANCING THE JIVE, CHADWICK OPENLY CELEBRATED THE FIRST FASHION STYLE TO BE SET BY THE WORKING-CLASS. IN USING THE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS OF CONCRETE LIKE COMPOSITION AND STEEL TO ACHIEVE HIS IMAGE, CHADWICK WAS ALSO BREAKING AWAY FROM THE TRADITION OF CARVED OR MOULDED SCULPTURE THAT HAD ALWAYS EXISTED IN EUROPE, WHILST AT THE SAME TIME DRAWING ON HIS EXPERIENCE AS AN ARCHITECT. IN HIS USE OF ABSTRACTION AND GEOMETRY TO CONVEY THE RHYTHMIC MOVEMENT OF THE DANCING FIGURES, THE ARTIST SEEMED TO BE ANTHROPOMORPHOSIZING THESE FORMS, WHILE CONVEYING A HIGHLY EXPRESSIVE AND STARTLING IMAGE OF A ROBOTIC HUMANITY.
RHYTHMICALLY SWAYING AROUND AN AXIS POINT THAT IS CENTRED IN THE GENITAL REGION, THE TWO FIGURES SEEM ROOTED BY A SOMEWHAT BESTIAL SEXUALITY, WHILE THE ARTICULATION OF THEIR BODIES SUGGESTS A CERTAIN MECHANISED AND FORMULATED RHYTHM. THEIR ARMLESS TORSOS AND POINTED, STYLISED HEADS CONVEY AN ANONYMITY AND EMOTIONAL EMPTINESS THAT IS HIGHLY ALIENATING. THE OVERALL EFFECT IS ONE OF A TWIN TOWERED MONUMENT TO THE MODERN AGE.