Artist's Resale Right applies @ 4%

Cement Fondue on Serpentine Marble base

Date 1969

Label to base

To be sold with ‘Ideas for Sculpture study’


David Backhouse b. 1941
David studied Sculpture at The West of England
College of Art under Ernest Pascoe, then in the
1970s set up a studio in Spain spending time travelling
through Europe carving out portrait commissions. On
his return he held four one-man exhibitions at the
Orangery in Holland Park ‘as a Sculptor and designer
my work stems from a tradition of sculpture set within
architectural environments. By drawing on the qualities
of both subject matter and setting, I aim to maximise
the aesthetic and symbolic impact of the whole’. David
continues to exhibit at the Royal Academy Summer
Shows and has held solo exhibitions in the USA ,
Europe and in London at the Catto Gallery, Albany
Gallery, Marjorie Parr Gallery and the Bruton Gallery
Somerset. │ Here in these works we see three sides
of one artist. The Study for the International Brigade
Memorial Competition as a powerful evocation of the
‘enduring theme of human experience’, contrasting
with a delicate vignette of ‘Girl with Stockings’ and
‘Phoenix’ a modernist blast coupled with an ‘in the
moment’ exploration of a sculptural idea expressed in
the accompanying drawing. ‘The themes are simple and
universal: the interdependence of nature and humanity,
and the search for balance and harmony. My sculptures
are meditations on the human and animal condition
in the modern world, reflecting loss and tragedy,
hope and delight, and above all tenacity of spirit.’
│ David’s most well-known work is the ‘Animals in
War’ Memorial, Park Lane, London. Other public works
include; ‘Cloaked Horseman’ St Bartholomew’s, Bristol,
‘Centaurs’ Whiteleys, London, ‘The Stream of Life’
Telford, ‘Dolphin Family’ London Docklands and ‘Young
Mozart’ Parade Gardens, Bath. David is a Fellow of the
Royal British Society of Sculptors and Royal Society
of Arts, a Royal West of England Academician and a
Member of The Society of Portrait Sculptors.