Cragg has consistently pushed the boundaries of material and form, employing substances as varied as plastic, wood, stone, and bronze to explore the intersection of natural and industrial grammars. His work is characterised by biomorphic abstraction, that is, forms that appear simultaneously organic and mechanical, suggesting geological growth, molecular structures or futuristic architecture. He was appointed Professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (1988–2001) and awarded a CBE in 2002. His sculptures are represented in the collections of the Tate (London), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and the Centre Pompidou (Paris), among others.

“Sculpture is a way of thinking and material is a means of expression.” - Tony Cragg

Indeed, his artistic practice is continually informed by this approach to form as a language in itself. It is evident in the Untitled (2012) bronze offered here, where Cragg deploys the medium’s weight and permanence to create a form that appears paradoxically fluid. Rising vertically with a twisting, stratified rhythm, the work evokes both geological layering and the dynamism of a body in motion. The polished surface enhances the play of light across the folds and curves, heightening the sense of movement within mass. As with much of Cragg’s mature practice, the work resists a single reading. Instead, it oscillates between the organic and the industrial, suggesting natural evolution while asserting the sculptural autonomy of pure abstraction.

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Auction Details

Wednesday 29 October 2025, 10.30am GMT
Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE, UK
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Viewing in London (Highlights):
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Monday 13 - Wednesday 15 October

Viewing in Newbury (Full sale):
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Friday 24 – Tuesday 28 October (no Saturday viewing)

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