Catalogue Raisonné. Study for Capriccio
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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Study for Capriccio
Catalogue No. 677
Artist's CR 616
2005
Kinkell
Oil on canvas
36 x 32 inches / 91 x 81 cm
Collection: Private collection
- Gerald Laing: Iraq War Paintings, Kings College, Cambridge, 2005
- Gerald Laing: Iraq War Paintings, Galerie Salvador, Paris, 2005
- Diana Newall/Grant Pooke, Art History: The Basics, Routledge, 2008
- Mark Sheerin, 'Pop Art, politics and painting the Iraq war: Culture24 interviews artist Gerald Laing', Culture24.org.uk, 3 June
As an example of this self-conscious referencing of past styles, consider Study for Capriccio, 2005… Although its subject matter is powerful and compelling, Laing’s image is also a pastiche. It is an example of ‘double-coding’ which uses the familiar iconography and techniques of Pop art (of which Laing was an original exponent), whilst referencing the inhumane treatment of prisoners during the recent occupation of Iraq.
Art History: The Basics, Grant Pooke and Diana Newell, London, 2008
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Capriccio