Sculptural temptations

The history of sculpture

If you look at the history of sculpture, the European tradition dates right back to ancient Greece, when the preference was for classical marble sculptures of athletic men and graceful women. Sculpture as a genre is characterised by its three dimensional form, originally based on carvings, casts and modelling in stone, metal and wood. Today, the art form is far more liberated in terms of its shapes, colours and materials. Particularly in the first half of the 20th century, sculpture moved away from the ancient tradition by freeing itself from nature’s forms and abstract sculpture was born. Since then, the sculptors of the world have offered a multitude of different expressions, from the angular shapes of Cubism, through Surrealism’s unconscious universe, to simple Minimalist expressions and on to the complex art installations of today.

Scrap metal sculptures

The summer auction features a number of prominent international names, including French sculptor César (1921-1998), who was known for his compression and expansion principles. These principles are evident in several of the auction’s sculptures, in which César has both compressed car parts and beer bottle caps into small compact sculptures and conversely allowed milk to flow out of an overturned jug. In the 1960s, he was considered to be one of France’s leading sculptors, amazing his contemporaries with his compressed scrap metal sculptures, which also went under the name “Nouveau Réalisme” (New Realism). In 1965, he began working with casts of human body parts – many people are probably familiar with his giant thumb in bronze which is exhibited at Louisiana in Humlebæk. He then threw himself into the expansion process, experimenting with the expansion and solidification of liquids. A good example of this is seen in the sculpture of the overturned milk jug.

Imaginative creatures

British sculptor Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003), a rare guest on the Danish auction scene, is represented this summer by two abstract bronze sculptures. “Maquette I Beast” and “Miniature Figure V” demonstrate his ability to produce angular constructions that represent abstract creatures. He won the International Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1956 and is currently represented at several Danish museums, including Louisiana.

We draw closer to a surreal universe in Belgian sculptor Reinhoud d’Haese’s (1928-2007) sculptures, which create imaginative creatures in silver, copper and lead. In the 1950s, he worked with CoBrA artist Pierre Alechinsky and Copenhagen gallerist Børge Birch. During a visit to Copenhagen, he created various sculptures, including the “Personnage” sculpture in silver-plated breadcrumbs, which is currently up for auction.

Sensational tableaux

One of the more striking works is the sleeping young man in Kurt Trampedach’s (b. 1943) sculpture “Ulrik”, which is part of the series of hyper-realistic tableaux the artist produced in and around 1980. He had his artistic breakthrough in the 60s and is probably best known for his paintings and graphic works, but sculpture has been an important part of his work since the 1970s. His tableaux are characterised by the disturbing lifelike quality of his characters, and the two sculptures up for auction, “Ulrik” and “To drenge” (Two boys) are no exception.

Moving towards the more organic end of the spectrum, Ejler Bille’s (1910-2004) sculpture “Runde Former” (Curves) is a veritable delight. A pioneer of abstract art in Denmark and co-founder of the abstract-surrealist group “Linien” in 1933, he was inspired by the emerging European trends: Bauhaus as the centre for the development of abstract art in Germany, and Paris as the home of Cubism, abstract art and Surrealism. He debuted as a sculptor in 1931 and his early abstract sculptures are clearly inspired by nature. Later, the nature inspiration is less apparent, but the organic forms are ever-present in his works.

Minimal forms

Many people know Freddy Fraek (b. 1935) as the cheerful, banjo-playing musician and actor, but he is also a recognised, academy-educated sculptor. From the late 1970s, his music slipped increasingly into the background and Freddy Fraek made a career for himself as a performing graphic artist and sculptor. Privately, he is in a relationship with the Swedish-Danish artist Gun Gordillo (b. 1945), who is famous for her light sculptures. The summer auction features works by both artists – two minimalist sculptures in plywood by Freddy Fraek from 1985 and a light relief by Gun Gordillo from 1990.

Last but not least, Jesper Neergaard’s (b. 1939) clean-cut marble sculptures, “Karyatide V” (Charyatide V) and “Stående kvinde” (Standing woman), are elegant examples of minimalism in all its simplicity. Since his debut as a sculptor in the early 1970s, his work has been based on the human body. From 1979 to 1992, he lived in Italy, where he primarily carved his sculptures in marble. His sculptural language is characterised by clearly defined forms which are part of a tension-filled interaction. His sculptures often express internal symbols or external sensory stimuli.

The auction takes place in Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen on 12–13 June.

View all of the auction’s modern sculptures