New York, Paul Rosenburg & Co, 1959;
London, Sotheby’s, Sculpture and Sculptors’ Drawings from The Ingram Collection, 10 – 21 January 2011;
Woking, The Lightbox, The Ingram Collection: Diamond Jubilee Exhibition, 6 March – 15 April 2012;
Bristol, Royal West of England Academy, Drawing On, 21 March – 7 June 2015;
Woking, The Lightbox, Bodies! The Ingram Collection, 21 November 2015 – 31 January 2016;
London, Royal Society of Sculptors, Parallel Lines: Sculpture and Drawing, 13 May – 13 July 2019
Kenneth Armitage first attracted international fame during a group show at the Venice Biennale in 1952, alongside artists such as Lynn Chadwick and Reg Butler. The group’s work ushered in a new, anti-monumental, expressionist approach. Armitage particularly focused on small-scale sculptures which depicted his fascination with the human figure, combined with an interest in vertical and horizontal structures. The linear, simple figures, with their joined torsos, reflect Armitage’s fragile, elongated sculptures. Armitage was preoccupied with emotions and the humanity expressed in the language of the body. In Couple, the broad backs and outstretched arm in this work convey a sense of companionship.
