We are delighted to be offering a range of work in this auction by Leith-born artist, Eduardo Paolozzi. Working across sculpture, drawing, collage and printmaking, Paolozzi was prolific and his output extensive. He is considered one of the pioneers of Pop Art and his work reveals his preoccupations with technology, advertising and popular culture; how man meets machine and what the explosion of pop culture does to our own personal index of visual imagery. Paolozzi often juxtaposes humans with mechanical contraptions and layers contemporary advertising imagery to surprising and striking effect.
We can see these themes unfold throughout the selection of artworks offered in our Wednesday 06 April auction of Contemporary & Post-War Art // Prints & Multiples.
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Paolozzi’s collages are today recognised as having anticipated the concerns of Pop Art and its obsession with mass media, technology and found imagery. He is regarded as the UK’s own important precursor and conceptual link to the seismic 20th century art movement.
In 1952, the decade from which our collage dates, Paolozzi gave a seminal presentation of popular culture at the ICA in London which featured pages of his collage work, creating an exhibition as ground-breaking as it was iconoclastic.
The magpie-like practice of collage found its way into all areas of his work, from the cut and paste layer-building involved in his screen-printing process (a technique very deliberately appropriated from the advertising industry and elevated by Paolozzi into artform), to the methodologies behind the designs for his famous public murals, notably Tottenham Court Road’s mosaic masterpiece. Even his sculptures in plaster and bronze were formed by the maverick process of assembling component parts taken from casts of mundane, everyday objects.
We see then, that as well as being totally fundamental to his art practice, Paolozzi’s work in collage is arguably the most important and exciting aspect of his wide-ranging and non-conformist output.
This work is likely to date from c.1974. It was in this year that he created the large bronze panel entitled Kreuzberg in the National Gallery Collection, Edinburgh. The piece also appears to have connections to Paolozzi's famous reliefs for Cleish Castle in Kinross.
View the full selection of works by Paolozzi ⇒
Characterised by competitive bidding, strong results and a high selling rate, our Contemporary & Post-War Art sales are among our most popular auctions. Held three times a year in our Scottish saleroom, highlights are also regularly exhibited in our London gallery. Our strong private client base and excellent international marketing reach has seen these sales grow into flagships of our company.
Encompassing works by both emerging and internationally regarded contemporary artists and sculptors, we have achieved top prices for household names including John Hoyland (a world record), Bridget Riley, Eduardo Paolozzi (a world record for a sculpture), Terry Frost, Nicholas Party, Alison Watt and Callum Innes. Regularly featured local favourites include John Bellany and the ‘New Glasgow Boys’ Peter Howson, Ken Currie, Steven Campbell, as well as John Byrne and Alasdair Gray.
Lyon & Turnbull are delighted to offer Modern and Contemporary editioned prints and multiples within our Contemporary & Post-War Art // Prints & Multiples and MODERN MADE auctions.
An exciting and developing area of the market, Prints & Multiples are popular with new and seasoned collectors alike.
At Lyon & Turnbull, we handle prints from a wide variety of artists: from 20th century masters Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro through to the British canon of printmakers including Dame Laura Knight, L.S. Lowry, Edward Bawden, all the way to David Hockney and Howard Hodgkin. Our auctions encompass printmaking created up to and including the present day, with artists currently working in these mediums, such as Tracey Emin, David Shrigley, Banksy and the Connor Brothers.