Studio of the artist, Shelter Island Private Collection
Catalogue Essay
John Chamberlain’s work with its masterful application of found materials, color, composition, and installation has come to embody a quintessential American aesthetic of the post-war period as manifested in the round. First establishing his bona fides with his inclusion alongside the likes of Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp in the seminal “Art of Assemblage” show at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, he went on to continue to push the boundaries of sculpture throughout his over five decade long career.
Leggsbenedict from 2008 is a superb late work which rejoins many of his much earlier, smaller scale pieces. Formed of his trademark colored scrap metal, Leggsbenedict exudes a particular visual energy that is in fact a direct result of the work’s more moderate size. As with his acclaimed wall reliefs, Leggsbenedict compresses an incredible amount of visual energy within a seemingly compact amount of space. With its various armatures, hues, and angles of approach, the work has an incredible presence of being that is only found in the exemplars of Chamberlain’s oeuvre.
His artistic practice was driven by an unrelenting curiosity to approach the unknown and to discover dormant knowledge, as it might be accessed via creativity, collage and sculptural endeavor. As he has explained, “Probably the key activity in the occupation of art is to find out what you don’t know. To start someplace that’s curious to you and delve into it in a common way and come out with an uncommon satisfaction, an uncommon piece of knowledge.” (J. Sylvester, John Chamberlain: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Sculpture 1954- 1985, New York, 1986, p. 11)
2008 painted and chrome plated steel 14 1/2 x 19 x 19 in. (36.8 x 48.3 x 48.3 cm.) This work has been recorded in the archives of the John Chamberlain studio.
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $269,000
Contact Specialist Amanda Stoffel
Head of Day Sale astoffel@phillips.com +1 212 940 1261