Chadwick Lynn Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) was born in the suburbs of London, in Barnes. His desires as a sculptor were overtaken by a practical vocation as an architect but, dissatisfied with the theoretical nature of the profession, he began working as a designer in London. Read the full biography

Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) was born in the suburbs of London, in Barnes. His desires as a sculptor were overtaken by a practical vocation as an architect but, dissatisfied with the theoretical nature of the profession, he began working as a designer in London. During the Second World War it was part of the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and returned to England only in 1944. In March 1946 it won a prize in a textile design competition judged by Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland.
After being offered a design contract, he moved to Gloucestershire.
In this period he began to make his first furniture using balsa wood and aluminum wire, which were intended to be decorative elements for exhibition stands. His furniture was first exhibited at the gallery of the London art dealers Charles and Peter Gimpel in August 1949; which was followed by a solo exhibition in June 1950. Although Chadwick always saw his sculptures in architectural terms, Charles and Peter Gimpel regarded them as sculptures and thus reawakened his early ambitions.
In 1952 he was invited by the British Council to contribute four sculptures and four drawings to a celebrated group exhibition of eight young British sculptors (including Kenneth Armitage, Reg Butler, Henry Moore and Edward Paolozzi) at the Venice Biennale. Four years later, at the Venice Biennale, Chadwick established himself internationally after being selected for the British Pavilion and awarded the Biennale Grand Prize for Sculpture. In 1958 Chadwick purchased Lypiatt Park, Gloucestershire, England, which he restored and used as a home and studio. He died there in 2003.