Artist: Robert Klippel
Lived: Birchgrove, Sydney
Age:1920-2001
Represented by:Annette Larkin Fine Art, Paddington, Sydney (no Melbourne representation)
His thing. Miniature abstract sculptures and works on paper from the 1980s & 1990s.
Our take.Bob Klippel is widely believed to be Australia’s foremost sculptor. A disciple of Modernism, the bulk of Klippel’s work is completely abstract, yet he began as a maker of model ships. This early grounding in model making proved fundamental to his sculpture which included a huge variety of miniature pieces. The National Gallery of Australia owns 2,500 works, most of them small scale. Only Arthur Boyd is better represented, with 4,000 works.
In Poetically Microscopic, Annette Larkin is working with the Klippel estate to present a series of tiny bronzes and mixed media sculptures, along with 12 works on paper. Those who visited the artist in his Birchgrove house and studio were accustomed to the sight of many hundreds of small collages and sculptures lying around in various stages of incompletion. Klippel would prowl all day, adjusting and changing details until he was satisifed.
The result is a virtual universe of micro-artefacts combining organic and geometric forms, different colours, materials and patterns. The smaller items in this show are as colourful and playful as anything by Alexander Calder. The major piece is a collection of 36 small, constructed sculptures cast in bronze. It’s a entire exhibition on a tabletop.
Can I afford it?
The 36-piece ensemble, known as No Title (No.1135), (c.1985) is the most expensive inclusion in the show, selling for $220,000 (dimensions variable, tallest is 9.6cm). This is still a long way from Klippel’s record price of $507,800, paid for a similar work – Opus 361 (Eighteen Miniature Constructions),sold at auction in 2006.
The least expensive pieces are two framed, untitled works on paper, (black, white, taupe, KLIP#259/AKD0526, 4.5cm by 5.3cm) and (yellow and green, KLIP#258/AKD0523, 4.7cm by 5.1cm). These small paintings are only $2,000, which means that even collectors of slender means can afford something by one of the nation’s most renowned artists.
Where can I have a squiz?
Annette Larkin Fine Art, Suite 4, 8 Soudan Lane, Paddington, Sydney, 25 October – 1 December, 2018. annettelarkin.com
Published in The Good Weekend, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 November, 2018