'Horse and Rider' is an exceptional, museum quality example of Geoffrey Clarke's early iron work. Created in 1951, this is the first time this important work has been offered for sale from the artist's family collection.

Beautifully crafted in forged iron 'Horse and Rider' combines a contemporary method of making with a beautifully weathered piece of driftwood that Clarke found on a Normandy beach whilst on a Royal College of Art scholarship to France. It is a prime example of Geoffrey Clarke's work from this important period where he shot to fame after exhibiting at the Festival of Britain, the Venice Biennale and completed his series of four, twenty-one metre high stained glass windows for Coventry cathedral.

Newly graduated in 1951 with first class honours and the gold medal from the Royal College of Art, Clarke's approach was fresh and exciting and led to widespread recognition. Having signed himself up to the British Oxygen welding course in 1950 alongside Lynn Chadwick he experimented with this new method of making that allowed him to express his unique visual language of sign and symbol which he used to explore the human condition both in his sculpture and works on paper.

Whilst Clarke's irons are widely considered to be his most important period, his focus on making sculpture in iron was shortlived and he soon found his focus shifting to a pioneering technique of casting in aluminium which allowed him to complete a huge number of public commissions. Works from this early iron period are therefore rare and can be found in esteemed collections of Modern British Art such as the Tate, The Fitzwilliam, The Britten Pears Foundation, Leeds Museum & Art Gallery, Pallant House Gallery and The Ingram Collection.

Catalogue Raisonne no. S39, ‘Geoffrey Clarke: Sculptor’ by Dr Judith LeGrove, Lund Humphries 2017, p. 30