Dame Elisabeth Frink R.A. (British, 1930-1993) Man and Baboon 105.1 x 113 cm. (41 3/8 x 44 1/2 in.)

Dame Elisabeth Frink R.A. (British, 1930-1993) Man and Baboon signed and dated 'FRINK 90' (lower left) acrylic and charcoal 105.1 x 113 cm. (41 3/8 x 44 1/2 in.) Footnotes: Provenance With Terry Dintenfass Gallery, New York Exhibited New York, Terry Dintenfass Gallery, Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture and Drawings, 14 November-7 December 1991 Elisabeth Frink was working in a distinct environment in the development of British art. By the time she left Chelsea School of Art in 1953, British sculpture was experiencing a previously unheard-of prominence in European art, with Henry Moore leading the way for a younger generation that included Lynn Chadwick, William Turnbull, Reg Butler and Eduardo Paolozzi. More importantly, she was working in the aftermath of the Second World War, in which most of these sculptors fought, as did Frink's father. The collective state of mind that emerged in the wake of the war shifted the paradigm of western art, exploring the fragility and complexity of the human condition. Considered somewhat an outsider – in part through being a woman in what was a male-dominated sculptural world, and in part through being a figurative artist when the critical community was embracing abstract art for its departure from the recently disgraced human form – Frink would piercingly address 'some of the most profound and fundamental questions concerning human behaviour' (Calvin Williams, Elisabeth Frink: Humans and Other Animals, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA, 2018, p.10). A key tool in Frink's intellectual belt was the metaphor of the animal, 'an avatar to carry expression from the imagination' (Ibid, p.10). The metaphor serves as a reminder of our origins, and of just how thin and ill-defined the line of distinction can be between our own behaviour and theirs. The baboon first emerged as a motif in 1976 by commission from the Zoological Society of London, but she would return to it by her own design in the 1980s. In her drawing and painting, the baboon would appear alongside the human almost without fail, in a complex relationship. The present work comes as part of a series of works on a base of strong red and blue acrylic, covering a continuity of dynamics. The man rises from a seated position, gazing at the baboon intently as he does so, while the baboon glances over its shoulder, looking dispassionately into the distance without acknowledging the man's attention. Frink holds the baboon up as a mirror for the man to see himself in, a relationship the baboon is entirely unaware of. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: AR AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing