Skip to main content
Items Similar to Large Scale Abstract Geometric Oil on Canvas, Artist's Lay Figures at Play.
Unknown - American Large Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Signed Oil Painting
American Large Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Signed Oil Painting
James Massena - Monumental American Abstract Expressionist Signed Contemporary Oil Painting
Monumental American Abstract Expressionist Signed Contemporary Oil Painting
R. H. Barnard - Abstract Geometric Composition with Biomorphic Object - Acrylic on Canvas
Abstract Geometric Composition with Biomorphic Object - Acrylic on Canvas
Unknown - Large Scale Neo-Expressionist Composition in Oil on Canvas
Large Scale Neo-Expressionist Composition in Oil on Canvas
Jacqueline Verdet (1931-2023) - Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Shapes and Forms
Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Shapes and Forms
Jacqueline Verdet (1931-2023) - Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Amazing Colors
Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Amazing Colors
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 21

Derek Carruthers
Large Scale Abstract Geometric Oil on Canvas, Artist's Lay Figures at Play.

2004-2005

$4,780.23
$6,817.2730% Off
£3,538.19
£5,067.4430% Off
€4,060
€5,80030% Off
CA$6,659.52
CA$9,556.8930% Off
A$6,773.36
A$9,704.2430% Off
CHF 3,873.12
CHF 5,539.7030% Off
MX$81,929.38
MX$117,259.2230% Off
NOK 45,380.08
NOK 65,072.8230% Off
SEK 45,369.19
SEK 64,895.2730% Off
DKK 30,957.83
DKK 44,226.8330% Off

About the Item

Large abstract geometric oil on canvas of artist's lay figures at play by British artist Derek Carruthers. Signed and dated 2004-5 to the reverse. Presented in black textured frame. A wonderfully playful, colourful and energetic painting, cleverly composed of artist's lay figures emerging from a background of geometric figures, playfully interlaced with coloured circles and surrounded by a large white textured circle. These figures featured often in this period of the artist's work. An artist lay figure is a doll-like model of the human figure that artists can pose in different ways. It can be used for sketching or as a stand-in for the living subject of a portrait. "I was given an antique artist’s lay figure and acquired several smaller faceless wooden lay figures. I knew Man Ray’s “Mr. and Mrs. Woodman” series of photographs and enjoyed the irony and humour." So began the series of figure compositions which seem to sustain themselves as symbol and metaphor for aspects of the human condition. These figures have inhabited Carruthers’ paintings since the early 1990s. They may be placed in a fully-realised 3-D space, their solidity asserted with dramatic lighting; or they may be flat, insubstantial. They may be gathered as a busy community or they may be isolated. They are always featureless. They can be translated as a deliberately ironic comment on life; they are also evidence of the artist’s continuing preoccupation with abstraction. He reduces and manipulates the figures so that they are sometimes in the Romantic tradition, a model of profound humanity, and sometimes - more challenging and chilling - Orwellian tokens of inhumanity. Derek Carruthers was an artist who persisted in asking questions. His whole career was inspired by the determination to enquire into the nature of art, examine its purpose, and attempt to explore that place where the individual life of the mind meets the external appearance of the world where personal sensation rubs up against cultural assumptions. Not surprisingly, Carruthers explored, over the years, a language of pure form, abstract space, 2 and 3 dimensions, narrative and concept, personal and universal figuration. Looking back, over decades of work, however, each of these voices is pursuing a coherent set of questions, reflecting on the stuff of human experience. Carrthuers’ individual pieces can intrigue and charm, they can be warm and poetic and they can also offer gritty resistance to the easy gaze. They can challenge us to think about ourselves, our environment, our expectations, our place in the world. Carruthers grew up in the north-west of England having been born in Penrith, and one of his earliest memories of what art might be was formed by his encounter with the extraordinary creations of Kurt Schwitters. The latter had fled Germany in 1937, after his art had been labelled ‘degenerate’. He stayed, first, in Norway and then arrived in Britain in 1940. Carruthers had already encountered Schwitters' work as a boy, and had been launched on his own life-long examination of the nature of art. Carruthers was further inspired by Victor Pasmore and Hamilton (British Constructivists) who were working closely together at King’s College London and eventually offered a challenging course to all first year students. Thus, Carruthers – who was at King’s in 1953 to 1957 was encouraged to take a rigorous approach to probing abstraction, spatial relationships, and the interlinking of art and architecture. Having had the good fortune to have been an art student at such a time and in such a place, it is not surprising that Carruthers embarked on a voyage of artistic discovery. He showed his works with the major touring exhibition, organised by the Arts Council, in 1963, ‘Construction England’, together with Pasmore and Mary and Kenneth Martin. His work was also included in exhibitions of new art at the Drian Galleries, Porchester Place, in 1963 to 1965. Reflecting the more recent re-examination of post-War, British Constructivism, Carruthers’ work was also included in the 1992 show, ‘British Abstract Art of the 50s and 60s’, held at the Belgrave Gallery. This early work, in which solid or relief forms change their nature as they – or the viewers – move through space and time, deliberately challenges the human tendency to find comfort in regarding the world as fixed and knowable. In these years, too, Carruthers taught at Sunderland and Leicester Colleges of Art, before moving to lead the Fine Art course, as a Professor, at Trent Polytechnic (now the Nottingham Trent University). He was a dedicated educator, leaving to pursue his own art, full time, only in the mid 1980s. Inspired, perhaps, by this freedom, the 1980s saw Carruthers exploring new ideas. He turned from working in 3-dimensions, or collage and relief, and rediscovered the power of traditional materials, oil and watercolour, on canvas and paper. He moved away from Non-Objectivity towards a practice which explored both abstracted and figurative imagery. Throughout, he remained preoccupied with exploring the human condition: by this trite remark, we mean that he continued to question how each individual experiences the world; he explored the ways in which human beings create totems to make their mark, as if to claim immortality; he tries to, ‘symbolise the triangular relationship between humankind and religion and the art / architecture which it inspires’. Hence - as well as warm glimpses of holidays and home life - his work yields the Egyptian pyramid, the Graeco-Roman heroic figure, the Christian monument; and, ultimately, the ‘sexless, ageless, raceless anonymity’ of the artist’s lay figure. Derek Carruthers continued to ask questions, both about his life in a particular time and place, and about the lot of the human being on a universal scale. As an artist and a scholar, he saw himself at the intersection of these challenging states. And he makes you think........
  • Creator:
    Derek Carruthers
  • Creation Year:
    2004-2005
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 40.16 in (102 cm)Width: 52.45 in (133.2 cm)Depth: 0.79 in (2 cm)
  • Medium:
    Canvas,Oil
  • Movement & Style:
    Abstract Expressionist
  • Period:
    Early 20th Century
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Cotignac, FR
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: GB/Carruthers/Figures1stDibs: LU1430213688302

More From This Seller

View All
Large Scale Abstract Geometric Oil on Canvas, Artist's Lay Figures

Derek Carruthers 1Large Scale Abstract Geometric Oil on Canvas, Artist's Lay Figures

Large Scale Abstract Geometric Oil on Canvas, Artist's Lay Figures

By Derek Carruthers 1

Located in Cotignac, FR

Large abstract geometric oil on canvas of artist's lay figures intertwined by British artist Derek Carruthers. Unsigned but acquired along with other signed works from the artist's e...

Category

Late 20th Century Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mid-Century French Abstract Expressionist Oil on Canvas.

Jean Louis Ladislas Mid-Century French Abstract Expressionist Oil on Canvas., 1969

Mid-Century French Abstract Expressionist Oil on Canvas.

Located in Cotignac, FR

A large mid-century French abstract expressionist oil and acrylic on canvas by Jean-Louis Ladislas. Signed and dated 69 to the reverse. Presented in a slim baton wood frame. A highl...

Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Abstract Expressionist Abstract Large Oil on Canvas, Le Pèlerin.

Bernard DuvertAbstract Expressionist Abstract Large Oil on Canvas, Le Pèlerin., 1990

Abstract Expressionist Abstract Large Oil on Canvas, Le Pèlerin.

Located in Cotignac, FR

Expressionist abstract oil on canvas by French artist Bernard Duvert. The painting is signed bottom left, dated and titled to the rear stretchers and with exhibition numbers. A magn...

Category

Late 20th Century Neo-Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Italian Abstract Expressionist Acrylic on Canvas. 'Agrandissement Cellulaire'.

Albino PalamaraItalian Abstract Expressionist Acrylic on Canvas. 'Agrandissement Cellulaire'., 2024

Italian Abstract Expressionist Acrylic on Canvas. 'Agrandissement Cellulaire'.

Located in Cotignac, FR

Contemporary abstract expressionist acrylic and oil on canvas by Italian artist Albino Palamara. Signed to the reverse. Title: Agrandissement Cellulaire. A strikingly colourful and...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Zoetermeer Abstraction, Large Scale Abstract Expressionist Oil on Canvas

Tony DielenZoetermeer Abstraction, Large Scale Abstract Expressionist Oil on Canvas

Zoetermeer Abstraction, Large Scale Abstract Expressionist Oil on Canvas

Located in Cotignac, FR

Large scale Abstract Expressionist oil on canvas by Dutch artist Tony Dielen. The painting is signed bottom right, resigned in full and has an artist's and a collection's label to the rear stretchers. The canvas is on a good stretcher with 'keys'. It is presented in a fine blond wood custom tray...

Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

SW8- 21st Century, Oil painting, Geometric Abstraction

Víctor Pérez-PorroSW8- 21st Century, Oil painting, Geometric Abstraction, 2021

SW8- 21st Century, Oil painting, Geometric Abstraction

Located in Barcelona, Catalonia

At the heart of Pérez-Porro’s work lies a deliberate deviation from the norm. Hidden within the sequential repetition is an expressive will to break the order, transcending the need ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Reality Large Geometric Abstract Oil Paining

Maximo CamineroReality Large Geometric Abstract Oil Paining, 2021

Reality Large Geometric Abstract Oil Paining

By Maximo Caminero

Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL

Reality Artist signed lower right corner and back, canvas 43"x95"x1.5 Maximo Caminero Born in the Dominican Republic in 1962. Artist, self-taught formation. He made his first...

Category

2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil

In Between Two- 21st Century, Oil painting, Geometric Abstraction

Víctor Pérez-PorroIn Between Two- 21st Century, Oil painting, Geometric Abstraction, 2021

In Between Two- 21st Century, Oil painting, Geometric Abstraction

Located in Barcelona, Catalonia

At the heart of Pérez-Porro’s work lies a deliberate deviation from the norm. Hidden within the sequential repetition is an expressive will to break the order, transcending the need ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Shapes and Forms

Jacqueline Verdet (1931-2023)Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Shapes and Forms

Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Shapes and Forms

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Abstract Composition signed initials by Jacqueline VERDET (French, 1931-2023) oil painting on canvas, unframed stamped verso canvas: 36 x 28.75 inches condition: the work is in overa...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Amazing Colors

Jacqueline Verdet (1931-2023)Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Amazing Colors

Huge French Contemporary Modernist Abstract Oil Painting Amazing Colors

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Abstract Composition signed by Jacqueline VERDET (French, 1931-2023) oil painting on canvas, unframed canvas: 46 x 32 inches condition: the work is in overall very sound and good con...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Abstract Geometric Composition with Biomorphic Object - Acrylic on Canvas

R. H. BarnardAbstract Geometric Composition with Biomorphic Object - Acrylic on Canvas, late 20th Century

Abstract Geometric Composition with Biomorphic Object - Acrylic on Canvas

Located in Soquel, CA

Bold abstract composition by RH Barnard (American, 20th Century). The backdrop of this piece is composed of rectangular sections of brown, red, blue, and tan. In the center of the composition, there is a black object...

Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Acrylic

More Ways To Browse

Antique Nottingham
Egyptian Pyramids
Mid Century Oil Painting Ray
Antique Totem
Antique Sunderland
Oil Derek
Mary Martin
Antique Lay Figure
Derek Carruthers
Julie Mehretu
Lorser Feitelson
Randi Grantham
Ron Woods Art
Spray Paint Heart
Tropic Art
Zurab Tsereteli
Abstract Cactus Painting
Barn Abstract
View All Popular Abstract Paintings Searches