Joe Tilson

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Joe Tilson
Wood Relief No.20
signed twice, inscribed with title and dated 1960 on the reverse
wood relief
152.5 by 122cm., 60 by 48in.

Provenance

Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, London
Their Sale, Sotheby's, London, 11 November 1987, lot 297

Exhibited

London, Marlborough New London Gallery, Joe Tilson, 1962;
Newcastle, Hatton Gallery, Joe Tilson, 1963, no.3;
Basel, Kunsthalle, 7 Junge Englische Maler, 1963, no.87;
Sheffield, Graves Art Gallery, loan exhibit, 1966-67;
London, Tate Gallery, Recent British Painting, 1967, no.45;
Adelaide, Festival of Arts, Special Exhibition at The Art Gallery of South Australia, Recent British Painting, 1970, no.42;
Bath, Artsite, Bath Festival, An Exhibition of Post War and Contemporary British Art, 1985, no.4.

Literature

Alan Bowness, Recent British Painting, London, 1968, no.45, p.97, illustrated.

Catalogue Note

The early 1960s saw Tilson moving away from the heavily textured oil paintings of the late 50s and increasingly incorporating collage elements into his work as well as building fully constructed reliefs. Using raw wood (Tilson had actually trained and worked as a carpenter from 1944 - 46), Tilson built up compositions of deceptively simple geometric forms, that often have mythical associations. His 1962 New London Gallery exhibition included a number of these reliefs, and the inclusion of Bocca in some of the titles made explicit the connection to the Bocca della Verita bas-relief in Rome, the central hole echoing the mouth that allegedly bites one's hand if one lies.