Vorticist study with bending figure
Maker
(artist)
1885-1963
1885-1963
Title
Vorticist study with bending figure
Date of Production
(circa) 1914
Medium
graphite and watercolour on wove paper, cut into an irregular seven-sided shape, with multiple pinholes at five of the corners
Dimensions
Height: 25 cm
Width: 34.2 cm
Width: 34.2 cm
Accession Number
D.2016.XX.13
Mode of Acquisition
Brigid Peppin, gift, 2016
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
© Estate of Helen Saunders
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
Trimmed into an irregular heptagon by Saunders herself, this watercolour is one of her first surviving works to display stylistic features of Vorticism, such as the bright primary colours and the robotic figure. Exploring the interplay between the human body and the machine was key to Vorticism.
The figure’s ovoid head resembles a balloon or an egg, shapes which Saunders associated with the imagination but which also recall the barrage balloons that defended London during the First World War. Although the figure initially appears benign, the claw-like hands undercut the impression of harmlessness. Are we looking at an odd but benevolent being, a sinister puppeteer, or a machine intended for war?
The figure’s ovoid head resembles a balloon or an egg, shapes which Saunders associated with the imagination but which also recall the barrage balloons that defended London during the First World War. Although the figure initially appears benign, the claw-like hands undercut the impression of harmlessness. Are we looking at an odd but benevolent being, a sinister puppeteer, or a machine intended for war?
Provenance
with the artist until her death in 1963; bequeathed to her sister, Ethel Saunders; bequeathed to her first cousin once removed, Helen Peppin, 1971; given to her daughter, Brigid Peppin, 1989; offered by her as a gift and part-purchase to the Samuel Courtauld Trust, 2016
Exhibition History
Praxitella: Wyndham Lewis, Helen Saunders and Iris Barry, Leeds Art Gallery, 22/06/2023-05/11/2023
Drawings Gallery Display - Helen Saunders, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/10/2022-29/01/2023
Modern Art in Britain 1910-1914, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 20/02/1997-26/05/1997 ...More
Blast, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, 18/08/1996-03/11/1996; Haus der Kunst, Munich, 15/11/1996-26/01/1997
Helen Saunders (1885-1963), Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 09/01/1996-03/03/1996; Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 16/03/1996-20/04/1996 ...Less
Drawings Gallery Display - Helen Saunders, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/10/2022-29/01/2023
Modern Art in Britain 1910-1914, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 20/02/1997-26/05/1997 ...More
Blast, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, 18/08/1996-03/11/1996; Haus der Kunst, Munich, 15/11/1996-26/01/1997
Helen Saunders (1885-1963), Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 09/01/1996-03/03/1996; Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 16/03/1996-20/04/1996 ...Less
Literature
Peppin, Brigid, and Cork, Richard, Helen Saunders (1885-1963), exh. cat., Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and Graves Art Gallery ,Sheffield, 1996
p. 44
p. 44
Inscriptions
Watermark: Watermark: none.
Inscription: none.
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: none.
Collector's mark: none.
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