Eric Grate
Covered by droit de suite
Image rights
The artworks in this database are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the rights holders. The artworks are reproduced in this database with a license from Bildupphovsrätt.
For condition report contact specialist
"Rituell Dans II (Danse Rituelle)"
Group of 6 sculptures. Executed in 1959-60. Granite. Height 62 cm each.
Provenance
Acquired at The Art Institute of Chicago in 1964.
Christie's, New York, sale 2644, 16 July 2012, cat no. 151.
Private collection, Sweden. (Acquired at the above).
Exhibitions
Norrköpings Museum, "Eric Grates metamorfoser", 24 September - 19 October 1960, cat no. 37.
Musée National D'art Moderne, Paris, "Eric Grate", 22 March - 15 April 1963, cat no. 54.
Musée d'lxelles, Bryssel, "Eric Grate", 7 June - 7 July 1963, cat no. 54.
National Hoger Instituut en Koninklijke Academie van Antwerpen, 23 July - 18 August 1963, cat no. 54.
Literature
Pontus Grate och Ragnar von Holten "Eric Grate", 1978, p. 108.
More information
På 1950-talet började Eric Grate arbeta med ett av sina mäktigaste projekt, ”Rituell dans”. I skulpturgruppen kom han att fullt utveckla sina tankar om hur enskilda skulpturer kan röra sig mot varandra och bli till en gemensam rörelse. Dansen och den rytmiska musiken hade alltid varit ett betydande inslag i Eric Grates konstnärliga värld, men med denna skulpturgrupp nådde han en ny magisk nivå.
I det första utkastet i akvarell är det sju dansande jungfrur, men i bronsgruppen 1956 har antalet reducerats till sex gestalter och en har blivit man iförd en djurmask. 1959-60 tillkommer så den slutliga versionen i granit där gestalterna har blivit kraftigt stiliserade. Att de är så starkt stiliserade var en nödvändighet eftersom Grate avsåg att de skulle utföras i övernaturlig storlek(4 meter) till en ”skulpturpark” där besökarna skulle kunna delta i en formation som ständigt förvandlas, en metamorfos med komponenter av levande människor och skulpturala element. Hans vision var att de dansande fetischerna skulle hänge sig totalt till rytmen och hamna i en festlig backanal. ”Rituell dans II” inköptes 1964 till The Art Institute of Chicago. På 1960-talet ställdes gruppen ut på ett flertal utställningar, bl a Musée National d’Art Moderne i Paris 1963.
Artist
Eric Grates idiosyncratic world of images always invites exploration and wandering within the imagination. While he respects the the earths natural forms, he sometimes "plays with god", manipulating and playing with nature to create new surprising objects which we recognise but simultaneously dont recall. He borrows fragments from nature and uses his endless imagination to create art in his unique way. His visual language emualtes an aura of abstract surrealism derived from "object trouvés". Grate was inspired by natures radiance and its different forms. Stones, roots, insects, bones, all were transformed into sculptures, particularly the insect world was a source of great inspiration for Grates. During the 1960s, beach, hull, and bones were particularly the starting points for his sculptures. He created numerous official artworks.
Grate began his academic trips after finishing his studies at Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts from 1979-20, where he travelled to Italy and Greece, filling his sketchbooks with studies of insects, plants, unique architecture, sculpture, and ceramics. He spent a longer period between 1924 and 1933 in Paris, a formative period where he was one of the few Swedish artists who was associated with the avante garde; we got in contact with none other than the surrealists Jean Arp, Paul Eluard, and Tristan Tzara. Grate is seen by many as one of Sweden's most influential sculptors during the 1900s.
Read more