William Turnbull (b.1922), painter and sculptor, is one of Britain’s most respected artists.He is also one of the most individual. Never part of a group, but always alert to contemporary trends, Turnbull has modulated his own artistic vocabulary in relation to the longer, and truly international, history of sculpture.

Moving swiftly on from the parochialism of post-war London, Turnbull’s two years in Paris (1948-50) nourished his art throughout the following decades. His interest in the archetypal human (and animal) form was broken by an interlude in which the sculptor made possibly the most significant British contribution to the developing language of Minimalism.

Amanda Davidson’s concise and lucid text takes us through Turnbull’s journey, exploring his influences as well as his own constant sense of direction, and counterbalances this with the first complete catalogue of his entire sculptural output, 1948 to 2003.

The sculpture of William Turnbull has metamorphosed through many distinct phases but has always expressed the artist’s experience of his materials and the spectators’ experience of the finished work. In 1955, Turnbull stated that: I start with an idea or sensation, and finish with an object - an image - which will be kept or destroyed.Between the idea and the image there is a dialogue with the material, the chance occurrence of shapes and surfaces that [ leave or reject- an activity, that leaves me with something very different from my original idea. The idea was just the seed to be destroyed in the growing process. The naming or title comes afterwards - something generalised, that will not interpret the image, so that the sculpture collects suggestions as to what it means, as a flypaper does flies - it becomes what people see in it. It is much more complex than all this, and yet much simpler ... I can’t explain it all. I don’t even want to. Anyway, theories come after the thing is made and not before, and like prefaces, they should be read after the book. if at all.

The work of art is the result of the sculptor’s use of his materials, finding the finished work through that process. not aiming at any set idea. Turnbull found the writings of Paul Klee (1879-1940) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-80) very important. They encouraged Turnbufl towards his belief that the artwork is a process involving the artist, the work and the spectator, not a fait accompli...

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Artistic development (1922-48)

Line and movement: Paris and London (1948-53)

Surface and chance: masks, heads and idols (1953-57)

Colour plate section

Balance and refinement: totems and Minimalism (1957-73)

Metamorphosis: new idols (1974 onwards)

Conclusion

Catalogue of sculpture

Chronology

Solo exhibitions

Selected group exhibitions

Public collections holding sculptures by William Turnburl

Public collections holding works in other media by William Turnbull

Selected bibliography

Index of works

General Index

Photographic credits