Richard MacDonald Bronzes Up for Auction
Theater and dance, mime and balé, are the worlds in which the prestigious sculptor Richard MacDonald has been immersing himself for decades to extract from them a renewed idea of beauty in movement, of contained expression and imprisoned pathos.
Closely linked to Cirque du Soleil and the Royal Ballet of London, MacDonald dedicates long sessions to the contemplation of acrobats and dancers live. From his rigorous study and his faith that the truth of the soul resides in the body in motion, a work is derived that is worthy heir to the best tradition of Western sculpture. In his bronzes, the flexible agility of Donatello’s figures and the existential depth of August Rodin seem to combine.
But his gaze is not nostalgic: if he restores the past, it is to forge the future by consciously inhabiting the present.
Setdart has collected five important bronzes by the author in his auctions , some of which could be seen in the anthology that the MEAM (European Museum of Modern Art of Barcelona) dedicated to him in 2014. This is the case of the adolescent dancer, focused on his “First position” (1994), whose stylized and elastic figure reminds us of Donatello models , but above all transmits the result of a live vision, extremely vital (see lot 35221993).
Also included in the Barcelona retrospective was the mysterious veiled woman from “Nightfall Heroic” from 1972 (lot 35221994). Both pieces are reproduced in the MEAM catalog.
Other sculptures tendered at Setdart Auctions belong to the London Royal Ballet Series, such as “Doves” (lot 35221996), a young woman with an arched torso, balancing herself perfectly on the tip of her foot. Similar mastery of the anatomical representation and the vital breath that animates the bodies is also expressed in the couple “Season” (35221992).
Finally, the figure of the mime could not be missing among the figures gathered on this occasion (see lot 35221995). Mimicry has greatly interested MacDonald as an ancient, almost primal art form. Through acting he freezes the expressive qualities of gesture and emotion.
A unique opportunity to acquire pieces of incomparable quality from a sculptor on the rise.
Up for auction soon
