BRUCE ARMSTRONG (1957-2024)
Owl conceived 2016, cast 2021
Estimate: $30000 - 40000
Description
BRUCE ARMSTRONG (1957-2024)
Owl conceived 2016, cast 2021
painted bronze on timber base
170.0 x 40.0 x 40.0 cm
signed with initials and numbered to base of owl: BA AP
Perrin Sculpture Foundry, Melbourne, stamp to base of owl
edition: Artist's Proof (edition of 7)
Provenance:
The artist
Private collection, Melbourne
Private collection, Adelaide
Related Works:
The Big Powerful Owl 2011 (also known as Belco Owl), painted steel and hardwood, 800.0 cm height, Australian Capital Territory Government collection, Canberra (displayed on the corner of Belconnen Way and Benjamin Way, Belconnen)
Estimate: $30000 - 40000
Bruce Armstong is celebrated as one of Australia’s most important sculptors, and his passing earlier this year has left a hole in Australia’s contemporary art scene. Melburnians are familiar with his painted bronze sculptures, stationed like sentinels throughout the cityscape; the largest being Bunjil 2002, a 25-metre-high eagle that towers over the Docklands precinct.
Visitors and residents of Canberra will also be familiar with Armstrong’s 2011 work The Big Powerful Owl which is situated at the corner of Belconnen Way and Benjamin Way in the Belconnen district of Canberra. Of the sculpture, Armstrong notes, ‘the collective noun for a bunch of owls is a parliament of owls. It made a lot of sense to have an owl, parliament and Canberra.’(1) The sculpture resembles our present work, Owl, almost exactly, but was executed at a much grander scale standing at 8 metres tall. The work is iconic among locals who affectionately refer to it as the ‘Belco Owl’.
Both works depict the Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua). Native to the south-eastern Australia, it is the largest owl on the continent and is distinguished by its long tail, comparatively small head and large round eyes. The bird’s elongated silhouette is unusual for an owl, bearing more of a hawk-like appearance, which is why Armstrong’s Bunjil and Owl sculptures have such a strong visual symmetry. Perched on a timber plinth, the owl’s round watchful eyes gaze back at the viewer. The work was cast in bronze by Bill Perrin of Perrin Foundry, who managed to skillfully capture the materiality and texture of Armstrong’s original wooden maquette. The beautiful, roughly hewn markings from the original wooden carving give the appearance of feathers down the owl’s body.
Armstrong’s thickset, totemic sculptures take the form of a litany of creatures, including bears, reptiles and most importantly, birds. His enduring fascination with both mythological and native animals was celebrated in the National Gallery of Victoria’s 2017 retrospective, Bruce Armstrong: An Anthology of Strange Creatures. Armstrong explains his particular fascination with birds:
Birds are everyone’s allegory, a totem for all personalities. Every culture has bird stories… one can sift through the history of art and find images of birds in the earliest of humanity’s imagery.(2)
Birds represent all things. They are all sorts of different things to different people. You can have a predatory bird, a nurturing bird – it’s a pet or a threat. I find they say more about people than people, in that their allegory is unrestricted.(3)
Footnotes
1. Bruce Armstrong, quoted in Reinfrank, A., ‘Where Does Public Art Come From?’, ABC News, Canberra, 25 April 2016, accessed 17 October 2024: https://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/curious-canberra/2016-04-25/public-art-in-canberra/7342172
2. Armstrong, B., ‘Why Birds?’ in Webb, V., MCA Unpacked II: Six Artists Select from the MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2003, p.8
3. Bruce Armstrong, quoted in Crawford, A., ‘Bruce Armstrong’, Artist Profile, Australia, 2017, accessed 17 October 2024: https://artistprofile.com.au/bruce-armstrong/
Asta Cameron
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Location
Sale & Exhibition Details
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Auction
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Exhibition
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Sydney
7-9 November 2024
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10 November 2024
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Melbourne
14-16 November 2024
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17 November 2024
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18-19 November 2024
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