LONDON.- Christie's will present Lynn Chadwick's major sculpture Back to Venice (1988; estimate: £1,000,000-1,500,000) as one of the leading highlights of its Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale on 18 March 2026. Appearing at auction for the first time, the work comes from the collection of Dr Robert A. Holton, whose pioneering scientific research transformed modern cancer treatment.

The title of the sculpture, Back to Venice, celebrates Chadwick's long and influential relationship with the Venice Biennale. He first exhibited there in 1952, as part of the British Pavilion's groundbreaking presentation of sculpture that inspired critic Herbert Read to describe a new wave of artists as the “Geometry of Fear.” In the aftermath of the Second World War, a generation of British sculptors created angular, tension-filled figures that reflected the uncertainties of the time, and Chadwick's sharply defined, welded iron forms were at the forefront of this movement.

The exhibition made an immediate international impact. Chadwick's sculptures, both strikingly modern and somehow timeless, moved away from traditional pastoral or classical styles, introducing a new approach to sculpture that emphasised structure, space, and emotional intensity. Venice was the moment Chadwick emerged as an artist of international significance.

Just four years later, in 1956, he returned to the Biennale to represent Great Britain alongside painter Ivon Hitchens, this time with a solo exhibition of his sculptures. For an artist who had been sculpting for less than a decade and had only held his first exhibition in 1950, this was an unexpected honour. Despite feeling unprepared for such responsibility, Chadwick fully committed to the project, which was met with widespread praise, with critics highlighting his originality and skill, and he was awarded the Biennale's Gran Prix for Sculpture that year, ahead of Alberto Giacometti.

In recognition of this extraordinary moment at the festival thirty-two years previously, the British Council invited Chadwick to return to Venice in 1988 and create a large sculpture for the garden of the British Pavilion, to be sited alongside works by Anthony Caro, Phillip King and Joe Tilson. Wittily titled Back to Venice, the sculpture depicts two seated figures positioned side by side on a bench. Frontal, still and quietly monumental, they project a sense of calm authority. Their composed presence recalls the rich history of double portraiture and ancient Egyptian sculpture - a source of inspiration also shared by Chadwick's contemporary Henry Moore.

Though constructed from angular, abstract forms, the pair possess a powerful human presence. Subtle shifts in posture - a tilt of the shoulders, the angle of a leg, the slight bend of a neck - create what Chadwick described as “attitude.” He believed that if the physical stance of a figure was right, it could “spell out a message.” In Back to Venice, the two forms do not touch, nor do they meet each other's gaze, yet a palpable connection exists between them. The careful balance of space and tension creates intimacy without overt gesture.

Alice Murray, Head of the Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale at Christie's: “Conceived and cast in 1988, Back to Venice is inextricably bound to the city that shaped Lynn Chadwick's international reputation, marking his return to the Venice Biennale more than three decades after his landmark Grand Prix win established him on the world stage. The monumental sculpture encapsulates many of the artist's most enduring themes - the psychological dialogue between paired figures, the expressive power of 'attitude', and the carefully calibrated tension of space and form - distilled here into a composition of regal stillness and quiet authority. Appearing at auction for the first time and coming from the Collection of Dr Robert A. Holton, the work not only reflects the global reach of Chadwick's sculpture, but also stands as a deeply resolved statement of his sustained creative mastery.”

Back to Venice will be on view to the public at Christie's London from 12 to 18 March 2026 as part of the Modern British and Irish Art sales exhibition.