“It’s Just a Dog”: A Canine Marvell
“It’s Just a Dog”: A Canine Marvell
By Elizabeth Talbot
Located at the centre point of the land mass that is Norfolk and Suffolk, conveniently situated on the boundary between these two great counties, is Diss Auction Rooms. One of the regular headlining auctions held by TW Gaze is their Modern Design Sale, which has been grown and managed by specialist valuer James Bassam for over 25 years. The popularity and commercial significance of art and design from the mid-20th Century to present day is such that this sale radiates to an international audience of buyers, collectors, galleries and museums, drawn to the spotlight James shines on cutting-edge modern-world creativity.
There is extra satisfaction to be gained from the auction process when the work being promoted for sale is by an artist from the local region. An added bonus is when the subject matter is endearing, and to a nation of dog-lovers, there is one lot which stands out in the forthcoming Modern Design Sale to be held on Thursday 20th March for both these reasons.
A limited-edition bronze sculpture entitled “Running Dog” (I/V) by Christopher Marvell is a definite highlight in James' opinion. Estimated at £2,000 -3000, it is a wonderfully characterful piece by current, well-respected and much sought-after artist Christopher Marvell.
Christopher Marvell was born in 1964 and grew up in Clacton before studying at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1982-6). Here he was influenced by the British Bauhaus of Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton. Later he moved to Cambridge and began working in a studio at Fulbourn Manor with artist and designer Majorie Townley.
His current studio is situated in the garden behind his home in Cambridge, where he lives with his wife Elaine, an established artist and painter in her own right. He has been casting in bronze for over 30 years and uses traditional processes that are relatively slow and painstaking. Christopher is involved in every stage of making his bronzes. He has been quoted as saying, “For 30 years I have used plaster as a modelling material, through the lost wax process then casting everything into bronze. Trying to make something look simple, easy and spontaneous....is difficult. Sometimes results come quickly at other times it takes twenty goes to get that simple line and shape flowing correctly."
"It is the business of observing acutely and recording - of searching for the line and shape and images. My graphic linear drawings work well as the starting point for making a sculpture. Using plaster is brilliant as it can be worked both wet/soft and dry/hard. The disadvantage of sing bronze is that it is expensive, long-winded, repetitive and slow but the surface quality is amazing and the material accommodating.”
Christopher Marvell’s sculptures have always been figurative, including birds, animals and people, and they always display his same distinctive style of representation in terms of the composition and manner of creation. “For example, a dog does not really look like a dog, but we still recognise it.”
Marvell says of his own work “None of my sculptures are particularly anybody or anything, it’s just a head, just an owl, just a dog. They’re emblematic: shapes, forms, emotions...”
The fully illustrated catalogue will be published online twgaze.co.uk. Enquiries for this or future Modern Design sales to j.bassam@twgaze.co.uk
