Self, 1962, terra cotta, 10 1/8 x 7 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches
William King
The Early Work of William King
December 2, 2006 – January 27, 2007
The gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of early sculpture by William King. This show is organized by Sanford Schwartz and accompanied by an illustrated catalog.
Now eighty-one, William King has been showing figurative sculpture on a regular basis in New York for over fifty years. His familiar, often long-legged, figures, embodying a unique blend of social satire, fantasy, and an affectionate eye for everyday life, have long been recognized as a distinctive contribution to American art. “The Early Work of William King,” which covers primarily pieces made in the 1950s, when the artist was in his late twenties and early thirties, represents the first time, however, that a period of King’s career has been looked at intensively.
Bringing together thirty works from private and museum collections, including those of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Guggenheim Museum, the exhibition follows a young virtuoso of many materials—wood, clay, metal—as he sought to find his voice. As shown by the 1953 “Miss Bowman,” a witty portrait in pine of a scrutinizing young woman, King, at the time, was evolving an art full of precise observation about the body language of contemporary life and yet almost abstract in its feeling for materials and form. Among his subjects were dancers and babies, musicians and couples, friends and family. Taken together, they cast new light on a veteran artist, and present some of the shrewdest and most sensitive delineations of people made by an American in any medium.
King’s work has been the subject of over 60 one-person exhibitions. Most recently the gallery presented a survey of his recent terra cottas. The artist lives and works in East Hampton
Best Baby, 1964, mahogany, 25 x 10 inches
Best Baby, 1964, mahogany, 25 x 10 inches
English Girl, 1962, bronze, 16 3/4 x 11 1/2 inches
Self, 1962, terra cotta, 10 1/8 x 7 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches
Good Exercise, 1961-1962, bronze, 8 12 x 3 3.4 x 3 7/8 inches
Motorcycle, 1959-1961, bronze, 14 inches high
Edith, 1959, terracotta, 10 inches high
Edith, 1959, terracotta, 10 inches high
Shirley, 1957, polychrome wood, approximately 32 inches high
Teenagers Swinging (Lindy), 1957, bronze, 8 inches high
Self, 1957, wood, 72 inches high
Daphne, c. 1955, terra cotta, 11 1/2 inches high
Study for "Dress from Zita" , 1955, ink on paper, 20 x 16 inches
Study for "Dress from Zita" , 1955, ink on paper, 20 x 16 inches
Charles Alan, 1954, wood, 38 1/2 x 7 7/8 x 9 1/4
Charles Alan, 1954, wood, 38 1/2 x 7 7/8 x 9 1/4
Cat, 1954, glazed terra cotta, 5 3/4 x 13 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches
The Nylon Dress, 1954, pine, 31 inches high
Hot Lips Paige, 1954, mahogany, brass, 8 inches high
Bob and Terry, c. 1954, terra cotta, 14 x 14 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches
Daphne and Charlie, 1954, wood, 42 inches high
Andrew Angry, 1953, wood, polychrome, 6 1/4 x 15 1/2 x 7 1/8 inches
Sonny Greer and Jimmy Archie, 1953, metal and wood, 9 7/8 x 7 x 3 1/2 inches
Miss B (Miss Bowman), 1953, pine, 27 inches high
Miss B (Miss Bowman), 1953, pine, 27 inches high
Aviatrix, 1952, galvanized iron and glass 37 x 21 x 14 inches
Shirley, 1952, wood, 18 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/8 inches
Sally Hazelet, 1952, glazed terra cotta, 10 3/4 inches high
Self, c. 1952, glazed terra cotta, 13 1/2 x 11 x 8 inches
West Coast, 1951-1952, wood, 15 inches high
Angelo (Ippolito), 1951, painted plaster, 30 inches high
Portrait, 1950, plaster, 13 x 6 1/2 x 9 inches
Acrobats, 1949, bronze, 16 3/4 x 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches
Barry Gray, 1949, bronze, 4 3/4 inches high
Sick Man, 1957, wood, 21 1/8 x 10 7/8 x 4 inches
Dancers a.k.a Polka, mahogany, 12 inches high
Dancers a.k.a Polka, mahogany, 12 inches high
