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Naum Gabo 1890-1977 Linear Construction in Space No. 1, 1965 Perspex and nylon monofilament. Unique. 12 1/8 x 12 1/4 x 2 1/2 in, 30.8 x 31.1 x 6.3 cm Provenance Marlborough Gallery, Inc., New York (acquired directly from the artist 1969) Collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson (acquired from the above January 1974) Exhibitions San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Celebrating Modern Art: The Anderson Collection, October 2000 - January 2001, pp.241 and 277, pl.159 illus. Literature J. Clapp, Sculpture Index, vol. 2, New Jersey, 1970, p.411 C. Sanderson and C. Lodder, Naum Gabo: Sixty Years of Constructivism Including Catalogue Raisonné of the Constructions and Sculptures, Dallas, 1985, p.231, no.48.16 This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Nina Williams, née Gabo Gabo first met Moore in Paris during the 1930s. Both artists were involved with Abstraction-Création, a loose association of artists working in abstraction that also included Hepworth and Arp. When Gabo moved to London in 1935, he went to live near Moore and Hepworth in Hampstead. Sharing an interest in dissecting space through lines, Gabo's friendship with the Moore and Hepworth led him to create the radical Linear Construction no. 1 (Tate, London) in 1942-43, which he dedicated to the liberation of Leningrad. The first Linear Construction represents the beginning of Gabo's use of nylon and his exploration into Perspex as a material. Like Gabo, Moore also experimented with string during this period, but the two artists had very differing outlooks. For Moore string was an addition to the dominating sculptural form. He used coarse threads to create lines which cut across and contrasted with the solid mass of stone. Gabo however, aimed for the metaphysical, making the base secondary to the string. In Linear Construction in Space no. 1 the structure is transparent while the opaque nylon threads capture light within their web like a prism, spreading it across the entire sculpture. While Moore focused on physicality, Gabo's Linear Construction in Space No. 1 is a mesmerising display of space which aims to delve beneath human consciousness in a balance of construction and light.