A WORK by famed Scottish artist and sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi is returning home to Edinburgh.
Paolozzi’s study of an iconic mosaic in Tottenham Court Road Tube Station in London has been sold to the Dunsmore family, brewers of Paolozzi Lager at their award-winning Edinburgh Beer Factory.
The oil on paper study, drawn on a 6’x3’ panel, was sold for £23,750.
Paolozzi is considered one of the fathers of pop art. Born in the Leith area of Edinburgh in 1924, he grew up in the family’s ice cream and sweet shop, and it was the sweet papers and cigarette cards sold there which inspired his trail-blazing love for collages.
Charlotte Riordan, contemporary art specialist at auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull, said: “We are delighted that Paolozzi’s design for the Central Line platform will be coming back to Scotland.
“In this unusual and colourful design, Paolozzi draws on his knowledge and understanding of popular culture and iconic symbolism.
“The concept united his abiding interest in the culture of mechanisation and his empathy with the tube station’s historic context and its geographical location.
“Having taught at the nearby Central School of Art in London in the fifties, Paolozzi had retained a broad, deep-rooted and affectionate understanding of the local area and its diverse communities.”
The purchase coincides with a competition being run by the Edinburgh Beer Factory to design a “colourful and eye-catching” mosaic inspired by Paolozzi’s tube mosaic, to be attached to the back wall of the brewery’s new taproom. The winner is due to be announced soon, with installation due in September.
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