— AUCTIONS —
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS The Collection of the Late John Schaeffer AO
Expressions in Bronze: The Work of Alfred Gilbert — The Collection of the Late John Schaeffer AO SYDNEY
OPPOSITE:
SIR ALFRED GILBERT M.V.O RA (British, 1854-1934) Comedy and Tragedy: Sic Vita c. 1890-2 (cast later) bronze, rich mid and dark brown patination, on marble base Height 39cm $55,000-75,000
Alfred Gilbert was the leading exponent of the New
Gilbert guides the viewer’s eye around the sculpture
Sculpture movement in British art, which was coined by
to reveal a complex narrative contained within. The
critic Edmund Gosse in an 1876 article in Art Journal.
spectator appreciates the work from multiple viewpoints.
Gilbert looked to the idealism and athletic beauty of
The young boy is shown from one angle holding a comic
ancient Greek and Roman figurative sculpture and infused
mask and from another, grimacing in pain a bee sting.
it with a physical and psychological expression. He was
The symbolism informing the contrasting emotions and
responsible for creating one of London’s grandest public
tension within the sculpture was explained by Gilbert:
sculptures, Eros Fountain in Piccadilly Circus (designed as a memorial to Lord Shaftsbury).
by a bee – the symbol of love. He turns, and his face
Comedy & Tragedy: Sic Vita belongs to a group of
becomes tragic. The symbol is in reality fact. I was
sculptures referred to as the Great Bronzes within
strung […] by my love for my art, a consciousness of its
Gilbert’s oeuvre. Within these iconic works, Gilbert
incompleteness. […] I was living a kind of double life at
achieved monumentality without sacrificing intimacy.
that time, enjoying the society of Irving and Toole and
The Schaeffer bronze is a reduced version of the original
other famous and pleasant members of the Garrick Club
(a plaster of which was exhibited at the Royal Academy
going to the theatre at night, and with Tragedy in my
in 1892), produced by Gilbert for his expanding
private life, living my Comedy publicly, if not enjoying it."
collectors’ market.
While outwardly successful (the smiling comic mask),
The complexity of form and symbolism distinguishes
Gilbert was trapped in a spiral of debt, disputes over
Comedy & Tragedy: Sic Vita. Gilbert’s technical virtuosity
uncompleted commissions and anxiety about his sick
is apparent in the contrapposto arrangement of the figure
wife (the tormented face of the boy). The Latin subtitle to
pivoting on one foot. Movements oppose, as the naked
the work means ‘Thus is life’. Gilbert’s ability to combine
boy thrusts a comic mask in one direction while twisting
contrasting expressions within the one figure was
his upper body the other to observe a bee stinging his
testament to his brilliance.
left calf.
4
"…represents a boy carrying a comic mask. He is stung
JANE MESSENGER / Independent Writer
