British Abstract Art | Paintings by Lynn Russell Chadwick

Lynn Russell Chadwick (1914-2003)

Sculptor, born in Barnes, London. From 1933-39 he worked as an architectural draughtsman in London, then spent some time as a farm labourer before volunteering for the Fleet Air Arm and gaining a commission, 1941-44. After the war he produced textile, furniture and architectural designs, and his first metal mobiles created from aluminium and balsa wood were exhibited at a Building Trades Exhibition, London in 1947. He turned to sculpture and his early figures were based on humanoid and animal forms. Chadwick was also at this time a member of the British Art Medal Society and undertook occasional commissions in this area.

Chadwick held his first exhibition at Gimpel Fils, London in 1950. In 1951 he was commissioned to make three works for the Festival of Britain exhibition on the South Bank. In 1953 he was one of the twelve semi-finalists for the Unknown Political Prisoner International Sculpture Competition in which he was awarded an Honourable Mention and a prize. By 1956 his reputation as a sculptor was confirmed internationally by his winning the International Prize for Sculpture at the XXVIII Venice Biennale. By 1957 he had held his first USA exhibition at the Saidenberg Gallery, New York.

In 1959 he won First Prize at the Concorso Internazionale del Bronzetto in Padua, Italy. More prizes and tributes followed as his career developed, including his being awarded the CBE in 1964. He has shown at Marlborough Fine Art, New York and his work is represented in most major collections world-wide. In 2003 a major retrospective exhibition of his work was held at London’s Tate Gallery and since then his work has been exhibited in a group exhibition at the Grosvenor Gallery in 2007.

Chadwick created a permanent exhibition of his work at his Gloucestershire home, Lypiatt Park, close to Pangolin Editions, the foundry which casts most of his work, from monumental bronzes to miniatures in silver. His estate is handled by and exhibited at Beaux Arts Bath and Beaux Arts London and can be seen at the Jerwood Sculpture Park and in museums and galleries throughout the UK.

Bibliography: Lynn Chadwick, published by the Tate Gallery, London, 2003. ISBN 1854374672.

Lynn Chadwick: Sculptures since 1954: A catalogue to accompany an exhibition held at Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museums, Gloucestershire, 1993. ISBN 0905157184.

Lynn Chadwick. Sculptor. With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-2005 by Dennis Farr. Published by Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd, 2006. ISBN 0853319421.

Lynn Chadwick: Out of the Shadows - Unseen Sculptures of the 1960s by Edward Lucie-Smith. Published by Pangolin London, 2009. ISBN: 9780956049131.

With thanks to artbiogs.co.uk.