Profile 1 1978

JOEL ELENBERG (1948-1980)

Profile 1 1978

black Belgian marble
68.0 cm height including base

Provenance:
Acquired from the artist, private collection, Melbourne
Menzies, Sydney, 24 June 2010, lot 29
Menzies, Sydney, 8 December 2011, lot 31
Corporate collection, Melbourne

Exhibited:
Joel Elenberg: Stone Carving 1977-1978 Italy-Australia, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney, 10 - 28 October 1978, cat.2 (illus.)

Estimate: $100000 - 140000

Result Hammer: $100,000

Joel Elenberg’s career as an artist was cut tragically short with his death at just 32 years of age. A talented sculptor, painter and printmaker, Elenberg’s remarkable legacy defies the limitations of such a short career. 

A Melbourne artist, Elenberg briefly attended the National Gallery School in 1965 before traveling to the Middle East in 1966-77. His practice during the sixties and early seventies is characterised by his evocative, figurative oil paintings. Elenberg’s interest in three-dimensional form began in 1969 and around 1972 he began working with stone. Of this definitive moment in his career Elenberg remarked in 1971: ‘At the moment, painting’s become too delicate for me. I don’t think a brush could ever hold enough pigment for me to express what I feel, what I’ve got to say. That’s why I’m orienting myself to sculpture.’1 In marble, Elenberg found a medium through which he could express himself completely. It is his sculptures, particularly those produced in the late seventies characterised by the abstracted masks and amorphous shapes and figures, which have confirmed his place as one of the most significant Australian sculptors of the twentieth century.

Around this time Elenberg’s work came to the attention of Brett Whiteley. The pair became very close friends, with Elenberg even sharing Whiteley’s Lavender Bay studio with him for a period in 1979. The two artists also stayed at Arthur Boyd’s Italian house, Casa Peretaio in Pisa during the summer of 1977. This time had an enormous impact on Elenberg’s practice and the works he produced during 1978 up until his death in 1980.

1978 was an important year for Elenberg, he returned to Australia reinvigorated by his lessons in marble carving at the famous quarries in Carrara, together with his exposure to the work of great European sculptors. He is most indebted to the work of Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957). Profile 1 is part of a series of sculptures that Elenberg produced that were featured in Elenberg’s triumphant exhibition, Joel Elenberg: Stone Carving 1977-1978 Italy-Australia at Robin Gibson’s Gallery in Sydney the same year. 

Profile I 1978 is a minimalist work typical of Elenberg’s refined approach to line and form during these years. Elenberg is not interested in a literal interpretation of his subject; instead he captures only the essential formal qualities. The resulting work is mysterious and ‘other-worldly’. The title of the work, Profile I, does little to dispel the intrigue, as the work is typically viewed in profile, as was the artist’s intention. The polished black Belgian marble surface with markings etched into the side is wonderfully tactile, and heightens the conceptual ambiguity of the work.

Elenberg’s distinctive sculptures are rare, and highly sought after. Elenberg’s works are represented in the permanent collections of the University of Melbourne, the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Queensland Art Gallery.

Footnotes

1. Joel Elenberg cited in Scarlett, K., Australian Sculptors 1830 - 1977, Nelson, West Melbourne, 1980, p.192

Alison Burns BA (Hons); MA