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NAUM GABO (1890-1977) Linear Construction in Space No. 4, 1957 Inscribed 'Gabo Fecit 1957' Anodised aluminium (stainless steel or beryllium) spring-wire; on aluminium base. height 49.5 cm (height 19 ½ in), including integral irregular base Provenance The Artist Gifted to Dr and Mrs Owen Franklin Thence by descent Exhibitions Edinburgh, Scottish Arts Council at Royal Scottish Academy, Art & Movement, 6-28 February 1965 E166, No. 31; Art Gallery and Museum at Kelvingrove, Glasgow, 8-28 March 1965 Cambridge, Kettle's Yard Gallery, Naum Gabo: Monoprinted Wood Engravings, 7 March - 26 April 1987 Literature N12 Bollman (1957) fig. p. 6 Gabo, Naum. Of Divers Arts. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1962 (larger version illustrated) S. Nash and J. Merkert eds. Naum Gabo: Sixty Years of Constructivism – Including Catalogue Raisonne of the Constructions and Sculptures (Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1985), no. 68.2, p. 245 This early version of Linear Construction in Space No. 4, marks a pivotal moment in Naum Gabo's oeuvre. Charac- terised by its fluid delineation of space and its articulation of rhythm and dynamism, the work encapsulates the central doctrines of Gabo's artistic practice. In 1920, Gabo and his brother Antoine Pevsner published the Realist Manifesto, a declaration that rejected naturalism in favour of a new vocabulary grounded in space, light, and time, informed by the principles of kineticism. Pursuit of form was not grounded in aspirations of beauty, but in the creation of dynamism expressing the real nature of time. These concepts remained constant throughout Gabo's career, shaping his artis - tic trajectory as he left Russia in 1922 and moved across Berlin, France, and England before finally establishing himself in the United States. The idea for Linear Construction in Space No. 4 emerged in 1957, with its realisation occupying much of the late 1950s. According to his wife Miriam, the complexity of achieving the final form demanded 'days and nights of labour.' The work consists of an anodised aluminium framework, developed from the earlier Linear Construction in Space No. 3, within which steel and beryllium spring wires are meticulously strung. These taut, curvilinear threads generate planes of movement that both define and activate the surrounding space. Gabo's experiments with stringing began in the early 1940s and provided a means of exploring the immaterial, using light and tension to articulate volume. Each Construction was strung by the artist. As Gabo himself remarked, the surface appears 'alive' as the viewer perceives simultaneously what lies in front, what extends behind and what pushes out from all angles, creating ultimately what Herbert Read describes in his notes on Constructivism, as the 'poetry of space, the poetry of time'. This Construction has remained in private hands since its creation in 1957, passing through the family of Dr Owen Franklin, Gabo's stepson. Franklin grew up surrounded by Gabo's work and the circle of Modern British artists – including Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, and Alfred Wallis – whose influence informed the breadth of his own collection. Gabo completed fourteen variations of this sculpture between 1955 and 1970, each unique and varying in scale. Six of these sculptures are housed in major global art collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Gabo stringing Linear Construction in Space No. 4, 1957. © with the Franklin family. 38