Frederick Edward McWilliam 1909 –1989
Angular Figure, 1962
Signed and numbered 'MCW 2/5'
Bronze. Edition of 5.
H: 24 in / 61 cm
L: 35 in / 88.9 cm
Provenance
Waddington Galleries, London
Peter Barker-Mill
Exhibitions
Waddington Galleries, London, F.E. McWilliam, 1963, no.17, illus.
Ulster Museum, Belfast; Douglas Hyde Galler y, Dublin;
Crawford Municipal Galler y, Cork, F.E. McWilliam, 1981, no. 55,
illus.p.50
Tate Galler y, London, F.E. McWilliam: Sculpture 1932-1989,
1989, no.42, illus.
Literature
Roland Penrose, McWilliam, Alec Tiranti Ltd, London 1964,
pl.130 & 131
McWilliam was one of a number of British sculptors, including Paolozzi and
Armitage, who re-imagined the human form in a series of geometric shapes.
Angular Figure is from a group of bronzes he made in the early 1960s in direct
response to Moore's reclining figures.
The use of the reclining figure post-war marks the influence of Moore, who
was a lifelong friend of McWilliam's. At first McWilliam emulated Moore's
interplay between solid volume and surrounding space. However, in his series
of mechanomorphic sculptures he deliberately parodied Moore's bodies
through contrasting his angular shapes with Moore's natural forms.
McWilliam was also influenced by his experience in the Royal Air Force
during World War II. Like Armitage, the imagery of machinery entered his
works through structural blocks of bronze. However, unlike Armitage's heavier,
solid forms, the asymmetric structures of Angular Figure recall the engines and
turning shafts of aircraft, filling the sculpture with a dynamic, Futurist quality.
