William Turnbull (1922-2012)

'The Heads of 1955-57, in which human features almost, then totally, merge with the surface texture as a whole, accentuate anonymity of shape. Although they are elementary volumes for which descriptive terms such as 'drum' and 'egg' are natural, these Heads achieve impersonal detachment through a means opposite to the perfection sought by Brancusi. They emphasize experience. Worn, battered, lacerated and irregular, they are perceived as forms sufficiently fundamental still to proclaim their essential identity after everything has happened to them ... Each free-standing Head can be rolled into any position desired: they have no top or bottom' (see R. Morphet, exhibition catalogue, William Turnbull: sculpture and painting, London, Tate Gallery, 1973, p. 31).