William Turnbull 1922-2012
Tragic Mask, 1979
Bronze
6 3/8 x 5 7/8 x 1 1/4 in
16.2 x 14.9 x 3.2 cm
16.2 x 14.9 x 3.2 cm
Edition 9 of 9
Copyright The Artist
Provenance
Waddington Galleries, London.Exhibitions
1981, William Turnbull, Waddington Galleries, London, cat.no.1, ill.b&w.Literature
Amanda A. DAVIDSON.The Sculpture of William Turnbull, The Henry Moore Foundation in association with LundHumphries, 2005,cat.no.195,p.150, ill.b&wand fig.36, p.68
Turnbull’s interest in totemic African sculpture is evident in the stylistic influences and formation of this mask. It is closely modelled on masks he might have admired in the ethnographic...
Turnbull’s interest in totemic African sculpture is evident in the stylistic influences and formation of this mask. It is closely modelled on masks he might have admired in the ethnographic section of the British Museum. This sculpture is interesting in that it merges Turnbull’s interest in totemic sculpture that he cultivated in the 1950s with a return to bronze in his later career, when he started to find the fragility of plastics too limiting. Turnbull continued to produce masks throughout his career development. Tragic Mask was so named after its completion, owing to the pained look upon its face. As the name might suggest, Turnbull’s interest in masks was also linked to what he considered to be the universality of theatre and the theatrical.
