Catalogue Raisonné. Portrait of Farquhar Aged 10
The Major Periods
1962 – 1965: Early Pop Paintings
As one of the original wave of Pop artists Gerald Laing produced some of the most significant works of the British Pop movement. His paintings reproduced images of popular heroes such as starlets, film stars, drag racers, astronauts and skydivers. His 1962 portrait of Brigitte Bardot is an iconic work of the period and regularly features in major Pop retrospectives alongside Lincoln Convertible from 1964, a commemoration of the assassination of JFK.
1965 – 1970: Utopian Abstract Sculpture
From 1965 Gerald Laing's painting evolved into abstract sculptures using the techniques and materials of car customisation - lacquering, spray-painting and chrome-plating on metal.
View all Utopian Abstract Sculpture
1970 – 1973: Sculpture In The Landscape
A move from New York to the Highlands of Scotland in 1970 saw Gerald Laing's sculpture respond to the beauty, roughness and power of the surrounding landscape.
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1972 – 2010: Public Sculpture
Public sculptures include the the Bank Station Dragons; the Rugby Sculptures at Twickenham Stadium; the Cricketer at Lords; the Highland Clearances Memorial in Helmsdale, Sutherland and Axis Mundi in Edinburgh.
1973 – 1980: Galina Series
Inspired by the figurative sculpture of the First World War Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner, in 1973 Gerald Laing began to model in clay and cast in bronze. The Galina Series and associated sculptures were his first works from this period.
1982 – 2007: Portrait Heads
Gerald Laing's portrait work includes heads and reliefs of Luciano Pavarotti, Andy Warhol, Paul Getty and Sam Wanamaker.
2002 – 2005: War Paintings
The Iraq war and the publication of images of torture at Abu Ghraib prison drew Gerald Laing back to painting for the first time in over three decades. The War Paintings series sees the starlets and all-American heroes of his early paintings take on new, more sinister roles.
2004 – 2011: New Paintings
Returning to the style and subject matter of his early pop art paintings, Gerald Laing's latest paintings feature media images of contemporary celebrities including Amy Winehouse and Kate Moss.
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Portrait of Farquhar Aged 10
Catalogue No. 425
Artist's CR 394
Christmas, 1980
Kinkell
Bronze
Edition of 10
11.5 x 7 x9.5 inches / 29 x 18 x24 cm
- Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1982
- Gerald Laing: Paintings and Sculpture 1963–1983, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, 1983
- Barbican Art Fair, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 1984
- Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1984
- Gerald Laing: A Retrospective 1963–1993, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, 1993
- Gerald Laing: Portraits, Thomas Gibson Fine Art Ltd, London, 1993
- Gerald Laing: Sculpture 1968–1999, The Fine Art Society, London, 1999
- Gerald Laing: Sculpture at Chisenbury Priory, Chisenbury Priory, East Chisenbury, 2002
- Gerald Laing: Paintings and Sculpture 1963–1983, exhibition catalogue, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, 1983
- Gerald Laing: A Retrospective 1963–1993, exhibition catalogue, The Fruitmarket Gallery, 1993
- Gerald Laing: Sculpture 1968–1999, exhibition catalogue, The Fine Art Society, 1999
- Gerald Laing: Sculpture at Chisenbury Priory, exhibition catalogue, Chisenbury Priory, 2002
- Gerald Laing, 'Gerald Laing: An Autobiography', unpublished manuscript, 2011
Laing’s first naturalistic portrait head.
I had seen a photograph of a portrait head of a young boy by Michelangelo. The way he had formalized the neck and tilted one shoulder appealed to me, as did the fact that the subject was not too dissimilar to my eldest son Farquhar. I asked Farquhar to pose for me and modelled his portrait, borrowing from the Michelangelo composition. The clay flew off the modelling tool, and I achieved the sculpture very quickly.
'Gerald Laing: An Autobiography', Gerald Laing, unpublished manuscript, 2011, ch.45