Reg Butler

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
Percy Uris, New York
Weintraub Gallery, New York, where acquired by the family of the present owner, 10th December 1985

London, Hanover Gallery, Reg Butler, May - June 1957, cat. no.37 (another cast);
Nottingham, Castle Museum, Contemporary British Sculpture, May - June 1957, cat. no.4 (another cast), with Arts Council Tour;
New York, Pierre Matisse Gallery, Reg Butler: Sculpture and Drawings 1954-1958, February 1959, cat. no.17, illustrated;
London, Hanover Gallery, Reg Butler: Sculpture, June - July 1960, cat. no.25 (another cast);
Louisville, Kentucky, J.B. Speed Art Museum, Reg Butler: A Retrospective Exhibition, 22nd October - 1st December 1963, cat. no.71 (another cast);
London, Tate, Reg Butler, 16th November 1983 - 15th January 1984, cat. no.56 (another cast).

Walter Strachan, Open Air Sculpture in Britain: A Comprehensive Guide, Zwemmer Ltd., Tate Publications, London, 1984, cat. no.444 (as Girl with Arm Raised, another cast);
Penelope Curtis, Sculpture in 20th Century Britain, Vol.II, A Guide To Sculptors In The Leeds Collection, 2003, illustrated p.31 (another cast);
Margaret Garlake, The Sculpture of Reg Butler, The Henry Moore Foundation in association with Lund Humphries, Aldershot, 2006, cat. no.178, illustrated pl.150 (another cast).

Structurally sound. There is very minor surface dirt, matter and traces of casting residue apparent to the crevices, with very minor spots of slight oxidisation to the base surrounding the three-pronged base. This excepting the work appears in excellent overall condition. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present lot.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

We are grateful to Margaret Garlake for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.

Female figures form by far the largest part of Butler's subject matter in the 1950s, and the image of the figure wrestling with a piece of clothing, a chemise or a vest, is one that captivated his imagination.

This figure, Girl, speaks of determination and thrusting energy. The sensual female body is lifted off the ground on a grid, a feature of Butler's female figures during the decade. The curves rise through the torso to the shoulders and left arm, which are tensely constrained about the figure's neck by a piece of material. Out of this struggle flies the vertical right arm punctuated by a clenched fist which thrusts towards the heavens. This passage from sensual freedom to constraint to release presents conflicting forces and astounding impact.

The figure's head is thrown back so that her view follows the strong vertical of her arm. Her face is calm and resolute, and removed from the torment of Butler's early 1950s sculptures such as The Oracle, 1952 and Circe Head, 1952-3. The image of the figure looking to the sky can be traced back to three figures, the 'Watchers', which populate Butler's maquette of 1951-2, which won the international competition for a Monument to the Unknown Political Prisoner. Butler recalled one source of inspiration for the upward-looking figures to be 'heads looking up into the sky' to watch de Havilland test flights at Hatfield (Tate, Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions 1978-80, p.74, quoted in Margaret Garlake, The Sculpture of Reg Butler, The Henry Moore Foundation in association with Lund Humphries, Aldershot, 2006, p.134).

Butler's interest in the writings of Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein suggests that the dichotomy between the opposing forces of sensuality and brutality in Butler's representation of female forms noted by John Berger in 1954 would seem to have some grounds. Artistically, comparisons can be drawn with the surrealist treatment of the female figure by artists greatly admired by Butler, such as Hans Bellmer. Perhaps more revealing are connections with two artists of Butler's own generation, Francis Bacon and Germaine Richier, both of whose work seeks to explore the boundaries at which the human form loses its human qualities. Indeed all three exhibited with the Hanover Gallery in London, and Margaret Garlake suggests that Butler's viewing of Richier's 1955 Hanover Gallery exhibition may have led to his re-engagement with the theme the following year.