Frederick Edward McWilliam, A.R.A. (1909-1992)
Lot 115 Property from the Estate of James Melvin

James Melvin (1912-2011) co-founded architectural firm Gollins Melvin Ward in 1947, along with Frank Gollins and Edmund Ward. Commissions for the practice included the central campus for the University of Sheffield and the twenty-eight storey Commercial Union Tower, the first building in the City to exceed the height of St Paul's Cathedral.

During this period James Melvin sat on the Executive committee for the Contemporary Art Society, alongside eminent gallery directors, art critics and collectors, including Sir John Rothenstein, Alan Bowness, Eric Newton, Bryan Robertson and Sir Colin Anderson. This led to his involvement with ground-breaking exhibitions such as 'British Painting in the Sixties', held at the Tate Gallery and Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1963.

James Melvin's own art collection demonstrates his discerning eye and appreciation of the sculpture and paintings being produced by Britain's young artists of the post-war period. These included works by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Frank Auerbach and Paul Feiler, and furnished his modernist home displayed alongside sculptures by Alberto Giacometti and prints by Edvard Munch and Pablo Picasso.

Frederick Edward McWilliam, A.R.A. (1909-1992)

Sitting-up Figure

Closed26 June 2014

Price Realised

GBP 37,500

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Frederick Edward McWilliam, A.R.A. (1909-1992)
Sitting-up Figure
signed with initials and numbered 'McW/1/3' (on the reverse)
bronze with a grey brown patina
22 in. (56 cm.) long
Conceived in 1962.

Purchased by the present owner at the 1963 exhibition.