James Hyman Gallery has always sought to combine art historical scholarship with attractive opportunities for clients. Building on his Phd from the Courtauld Institute, James has sought to emphasise the art historical importance of the works exhibited at the gallery as well as providing value for money.
From the beginning James Hyman Gallery has presented Twentieth Century British Art as well as International Contemporary art works, specialising in sculpture as well as painting.
James Hyman Gallery's first major exhibition, Henry Moore and the Geometry of Fear in 2002, did more than any other exhibition to turn the spotlight back onto a brilliant generation of British sculptors, including Adams, Armitage, Butler, Chadwick, Paolozzi and Turnbull.
In 2006 we also received enthusiastic coverage in the national press for the affordability of our Paolozzi sculptures.
Paolozzi's approach, like that of Picasso and the Surrealists, often involved the use of found objects. His studio was filled with plaster casts of the objets that appealed to him - dolls, toys, machine parts etc.
Sometimes these objects would simply be cast, at other times they were chopped up and reassembled, or individually coloured by the artist.
Writing about Paolozzi's use of plaster Robin Spencer, the authority on Paolozzi, has explained:
"With regard to the small plasters, some are from 'ready-mades' (including boxed model kits, objects found in charity shops etc); others are cast from his own designs."
"The plasters from the 1990s were not often cast in any other material. A lot of the animals were made specially for the 'Arche Noah' , [Noah's Ark], exhibition in Munich in 1990."
"He was very keen that the medium of plaster should have a higher status as a sculptural medium than it had previously enjoyed in the 20th century. He took a particular interest in this question after Albert Elsen's 'Rodin Rediscovered' exhibition (1981) which re-valued Rodin's practice with plaster."
As with Rodin's approach to plaster, Paolozzi often regarded the plaster as the final work and most of Paolozzi's plasters were never intended for casting or editioning.
Paolozzi's plasters are an accessible way of collecting one of the greatest British artists of the twentieth century.
