Leon Underwood
Dawn, c.1932
Bronze
4 x 11 x 5 7/8 in
10 x 28 x 15 cm
10 x 28 x 15 cm
Edition 4 or 7
Inscribed ‘Leon U’ and numbered ‘IV/VII’
Partner piece to Dusk, 1932, illustrated on the following page. In the 1920s, Leon Underwood travelled extensively, to France, Iceland, Spain, the United States, Canada and Mexico, studying new art...
Partner piece to Dusk, 1932, illustrated on the following page. In the 1920s, Leon Underwood travelled extensively, to France, Iceland, Spain, the United States, Canada and Mexico, studying new art forms and cultures. In November 1932, he launched the ground-breaking exhibition Sculpture Considered Apart from Time and Place at the Sydney Burney Gallery; he displayed the work of modern artists including Moore, Hepworth, Hermes, Skeaping, Modigliani, Degas and Gaudier-Brzeska alongside dancing Shivas from India, masks from Africa, Aztec figures, Gothic Madonnas and Buddhas from China. Through these juxtapositions he demonstrated what he called ‘sculptural consciousness’, revealing the links between sculpture of all periods and nations. Dawn and Dusk, created that same year, certainly show the influence of his extensive research into indigenous art and primitive cultures.