What Is Sculpture?
On the 10th of July, people will begin to sit or stand on the vacant fourth plinth in Trafalgar square. The participants were chosen by Anthony Gormley, sculptor of Angel of the North, and they will occupy the plinth for a period of one hour each.
One woman will clean the plinth, another, an 83 year old man, will send semaphore messages using flags, and an art student will celebrate her 20th birthday with champagne and cake.
It is not surprising that such a spectacle is being displayed as contemporary art, or that it is being displayed on a public plinth. After all, in 2007, the fourth plinth held Thomas Schütte’s Hotel for Pigeons - a 5 x 4.5 x 5 metre architectural model of a 21-storey building made from coloured glass, which cost £270,000.
When the project was proposed in 2004, Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery, commented that “there will be something extraordinarily sensual about the play of light through the coloured glass … It’s going to feel like a sculpture of brilliance and light.”
The vacant fourth plinth has always stimulated new ideas, however, what is surprising is that the forthcoming Anthony Gormley event, featuring live participants, has been called sculpture.
The most recent paradigm shift in what artists consider to be sculpture occurred in the now legendary Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design in the 1960s. The leading figure behind this change was the sculptor Sir Anthony Caro. Caro chose to remove his sculptures from their plinths, displaying them directly on the floor, or sometimes even outside. He even painted them in bright colours, which, at the time, was deemed revolutionary.
He worked as studio assistant to Henry Moore, who stands shoulder to shoulder with Barbara Hepworth as the greatest of British sculptors, and perhaps as the greatest Modern Sculptors of all time, so it’s perhaps not surprising that Caro developed into something of an innovator himself. However, with the passing of time, these days, his works are considered quite conventional.
The sculptors who came after Caro pushed the definition of sculpture to breaking point. Gilbert and George declared themselves to be Living Sculptures, and choreographed every aspect of their life. Everyday activities such as walking in step, singing and even getting drunk together were declared to be sculptures.
Richard Long, who was born in Bristol in 1945, went even further, making sculptures by travelling into the landscape, arranging natural materials in artistic forms, and recording his thoughts in writing. His most characteristic sculptures were temporary interventions, such as a circle of rocks or a line drawn in the snow. Long’s work during this period became so complex that it evolved beyond the bounds of pure sculpture, interacting and merging with nature, inspiring the written word, and evolving into the contemporary art we know today.
Sculptors working in recent years such as Anish Kapoor or the late Lynn Chadwick, who died in 2003, have taken a step back from this conceptual precipice. Their works take the form of fixed objects which the public can approach and interact with.
Kapoor has experimented with various materials, but generally makes his works in steel. Chadwick’s most typical works, though extremely stylised, are sculptures depicting the human form in the more traditional medium of bronze.
Even Anthony Gormley, who conceived the display on the fourth plinth, focuses his work on the traditional subject of the human form, although more usually depicted in a semi realistic manner, rather than a realistic interpretation of the living form - far less by living beings themselves.
Sculptures, especially those by masters such as Henry Moore, Sir Anthony Caro, or even Lynn Chadwick can be as highly prized as paintings. So if you have a work by an established modern or contemporary sculptor, or older works by more traditional sculptors, Borro can provide asset backed loans of up to £100,000 secured against all kinds of art and antiques.
Visit Borro.com today, or phone us free on 0800 756 9877.
DID YOU KNOW…?
The traditional models for living sculptors were originally plants and other green organisms…
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Modern British Art
In the past decade, the prices fetched by works produced by twentieth century British artists, a category known as Modern British Art, have skyrocketed.
Demand for works by the three leading lights of this genre - Francis Bacon, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore - is so high, that they frequently feature in international sales of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Modern British Artists have traditionally been regarded as less important than their European counterparts, but with prices of even the lesser known continental artists - let alone masters such as Picasso and Matisse - being driven ever higher by a lack of fresh works coming onto the market, collectors have started to look to the United Kingdom for more affordable opportunities.
The result of this interest is that the market for British Modern Art has gradually strengthened, with prices climbing steadily higher in recent times. The world record for a Lowry was smashed in 2007, when ‘Springtime daisy Nook’ - a large and acknowledged masterpiece - was sold for £3.8 Million. This smashed the previous record of just under £2 Million pounds paid by the English Football Association for ‘Going to the match’ in 1999.
‘Portrait of Gardenia St. George with a Riding Crop’ by Sir William Orpen, one of the leading Irish artists of the early 20th Century, sold for just under £2 Million pounds in 2001, while Welsh artists, though less well known, have also flourished. For example, ‘Bryn y’r Hên Bobl’ by Sir Kyffin Williams sold for £57,600 pounds in 2005.
Though art prices in general have dipped in the past few months, the modern British Art Market has suffered much less than the Contemporary Art market. The works of twentieth century British artists are well documented and classified, and their reputations are firmly established. Modern British Art could be described as the perfect investment. The works are bright and imaginative, appealing to modern tastes, with a value which is far less transitory than Contemporary Art.
If you have a work of Modern British Art, Borro is happy to lend up to £100,000, enabling you to release the capital locked up in your picture. When you have paid off your loan, your pledge is redeemed immediately, so retaining your art within your ownership as a long term investment. For a swift appraisal contact Borro.com today.
DID YOU KNOW…?
Many lenders no longer lend against Art. Even with the market depreciation we lend more and will give you a considerable loan against your pieces of Art…
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The Contemporary Art of Investment
With a tally of $93,734,500 and 49 of the 54 lots offered being sold, Christies Postwar and Contemporary Art evening sale held in New York on Wednesday achieved a seemingly impossible result set against the gloomy media coverage of the auction industry. Closer examination of the works sold explains this seemingly impossible total.
The top lot of the sale: David Hockney’s Painting ‘Beverley Hills Housewife’ which sold for $7.9 million - a record for the artist - is a perfect example. This large diptych was entirely fresh to the market as it had been in the collection of art patron Betty Friedman since it was bought in 1967 from a New York gallery, where it was first shown.
The cast iron provenance of the work coupled with its immaculate condition made it irresistible to both collectors and investors alike. The results of this auction shows that, in today’s recession, quality artworks can still be a solid investment. With banks, corporations and even the government holding collections of contemporary art, this type of asset is now on par with other more traditional commodities such as jewellery, diamonds and gold bullion, which are increasingly considered to be solid investments in the current financial climate.
If you need to service a short term cash requirement, there is no need to sell your prized possessions. The Borro team is keen to lend against works of contemporary art by established artists, and if your pledged artwork appreciates in market value during the term of your loan, it will be even more valuable when you settle the loan, and get your artwork back.
Borro.com is regulated by the UK Government, and all Borro contracts are approved by the Office of Fair Trading. For loans ranging from £100 - £100,000 for 1 to 6 months, contact Samantha Lilley, Head of Valuation, Borro.com, for a confidential valuation.
