Two Plaster Heads

Eduardo Paolozzi stands among the most influential British artists of the twentieth century. A pioneering figure in the development of Pop Art and one of Britain’s foremost sculptors, Paolozzi transformed post-war sculpture through an extraordinary synthesis of Cubism, Surrealism, engineering, archaeology and industrial design. Awarded a CBE in 1968 and elected a Royal Academician in 1979, his work is represented in the collections of Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and countless other international institutions.

These two unique plaster heads provide an exceptional insight into Paolozzi’s sculptural practice. Acquired directly from the artist’s estate, they retain all the immediacy of the studio, preserving the artist’s hand in a way rarely encountered in finished editions. Visible tool marks, construction seams and faceted planes remain intact, revealing sculpture not as polished monument but as a living process of invention. The larger of the two is deeply reminiscent of his most famous work, ‘Vulcan’.

The larger head is particularly characteristic of Paolozzi’s mature vocabulary. Built from intersecting geometric planes and fractured surfaces, it recalls the mechanical imagery, machine aesthetics and archaeological reconstruction that fascinated the artist throughout his career. The head appears simultaneously ancient and futuristic, suggesting a figure assembled from architectural fragments or engineered components. The smaller sculpture distils these ideas into a more compact and monumental form, demonstrating Paolozzi’s remarkable ability to balance abstraction with a powerful sense of human presence.

Unlike editioned bronzes, studio plasters occupy a unique place within Paolozzi’s oeuvre. They preserve the artist’s original modelling, revealing decisions, alterations and the physical act of making that are often softened or lost during the casting process. As such, they are not merely preparatory objects but important works that illuminate the evolution of one of Britain’s greatest post-war sculptors.

Their provenance further enhances their significance. Having come directly from the estate of the artist, these sculptures possess an unbroken chain of ownership that provides both confidence and an unusually intimate connection with Paolozzi’s working practice. Studio works with direct estate provenance rarely appear on the market and offer collectors the opportunity to acquire objects that remain exceptionally close to the artist’s creative process.

Today Paolozzi is recognised not only as one of Britain’s greatest sculptors but also as a pivotal figure in twentieth-century art, whose influence extends from sculpture and printmaking to design, architecture and the emergence of Pop Art. These two plaster heads embody the intellectual curiosity and formal innovation that define his work, standing as compelling examples of the experimental spirit that transformed British sculpture after the Second World War.

Research & Institutional References

Historical Context

Whilst unknown these unique plaster heads probably belong to the, these unique plaster heads belong to the final phase of Eduardo Paolozzi’s career, when he was internationally recognised as one of Britain’s most important post-war sculptors. By this stage, Paolozzi had spent more than five decades developing a distinctive sculptural language that fused classical traditions with the visual vocabulary of engineering, archaeology, science fiction and industrial design. His late studio works demonstrate the continued refinement of ideas first explored in the 1950s, revealing an artist whose fascination with the relationship between humanity, technology and history remained undiminished throughout his career.

Institutional Context

Works by Eduardo Paolozzi are held in many of the world’s leading public collections, including Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His monumental public commissions have become landmarks of post-war British sculpture, most notably Newton (1995), outside the British Library in London; Vulcan (1999), at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; and the celebrated Tottenham Court Road mosaics (1983–86), which transformed one of London’s busiest Underground stations into a permanent public artwork. Studio plasters such as these occupy a particularly significant place within Paolozzi’s oeuvre, preserving the artist’s original modelling and creative process in a form that is both unique and considerably scarcer than his editioned bronze sculptures.