Forming a Community: Siegfried Charoux’s Maquette for The Neighbours (1957–59)

Renowned for his iconic portrayal of The Islanders (1951) at the Festival of Britain, Austrian émigré Siegfried Charoux (1896–1967) progressed his sculpture practice during the 1950s through a series of compositions which expanded his commitment to representing ‘ordinary working people’, social cohesion and companionship, resonant with post-war democratisation.

This presentation will analyse the factors that framed Charoux’s thematic concepts, preparatory symbolism, contextual cultural references and the prevailing aesthetic conflicts for twentieth-century public sculpture which informed the reception and legacy of his work. It will also explore the extent to which the influence of leading sculptors, including Henry Moore and Frank Dobson, may be considered as relevant for Charoux’s Maquette for The Neighbours commissioned for the innovative Patronage of the Arts Scheme. Subsequently we will assess the extent to which the maquette’s modernist mimetic was realised in the full-sized sculpture of The Neighbours (1959), exhibited at the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts 1959, prior to installation on the Quadrant at the Highbury Estate, Islington.

Credit for listing and banner image: Siegfried Charoux, Maquette for 'The Neighbours' (1957-59). Courtesy Leeds Museums and Galleries (Leeds Art Gallery) and Langenzersdorf Museum / Estate of Siegfried Charoux