Lot 196
GUY TAPLIN (BRITISH B. 1939) §
CURLEW
Scottish Contemporary & Post-War Art
Auction: 25 August 2011 at 10:00 BST
Description
Painted gesso and wood on a driftwood base, signed and inscribed
Dimensions
51cm (20in) (height)
Footnote
Born in London's East End in 1939, Guy Taplin did not at first seem destined for a life in art, passing from one job to another in a series of disasters (from destroying thousands of pounds of stamps while employed by the Post Office to accidentally dying a client's hair orange
while working in a hairdressing salon). While working as a bird keeper in
Regent's Park, however, Taplin began to create wooden models of ducks, which sold out at his first exhibition at London's Portal Gallery. Taplin now
lives on the Essex coast, where he collects the driftwood from which he
creates his sculptures, preferring the tactile feel and sense of story with which it is imbued, and never carving from fresh wood. His work has been exhibited globally, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, and collected
by Jackie Onassis and Michael Palin, among others.