Lot 58

Private collection, Melbourne
Thence by descent

Another example of this portfolio is held in the collection of the Tate, London; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; and Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.

In 1970 British Pop artist Allen Jones made waves with his provocative sculptures featuring women as furniture. One such piece showed a kneeling woman supporting a glass tabletop on her back, dressed in leather boots, gloves and corset. These "furniture" sculptures, accompanied by a chair and hat stand in a similar provocative designs, quickly became an international sensation. Jones received numerous commissions, including from Stanley Kubrick to design sets and costumes for 'A Clockwork Orange', and his table sculpture was acquired by Roman Polanski. However, his work sparked feminist protests, a response that persisted throughout the 1970s and continues today.

A key figure in the first generation of British Pop artists, Jones initially painted in the semi-abstract, playful style of the era. After spending a year in New York in the 1960s, he returned with a more hard-edged approach and new iconography, incorporating representations of women from popular culture, alongside fetish imagery sourced from mail-order catalogues. These themes of body fantasy and objectification became central to his work throughout the 1960s and 70s, adding to his ongoing cultural controversy.
(Hannah Ryan, Senior Prints & Multiples Specialist)