Robert Klippel

(Australia, United States of America 19 Jun 1920–19 Jun 2001)

James Gleeson

(Australia 21 Nov 1915–20 Oct 2008)

Title

No 35 Madame Sophie Sesostoris (a pre-raphaelite satire)

Other titles:

Madame Sophie Sosostris (a Pre-Raphaelite satire) Madame Sophie Sosostris (a Pre-Raphaelite satire)
Opus 35
Madame Sophie Sesostoris (a pre-raphaelite satire)

Year

1947-1948

Media category

Sculpture

Materials used

beech and various woods, painted in oil

Dimensions

49.5 x 10.0 x 10.0cm

Credit

Gift of James Gleeson and Robert Klippel 1970

Accession number

SA3.1970

Copyright

Location

20th & 21st c Australian art

Further information

'Madame Sophie Sesostoris' was carved and assembled by Robert Klippel and painted by James Gleeson in the years 1947-48 when both artists were living and working in London. Her title derives from T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Waste Land' which features 'Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyant'. The enigmatic predictions of her tarot cards are alluded to, for example, on the four miniature panels at the base of the sculpture. The figure carved by Klippel appeared to Gleeson just the way he imagined Madame Sosostris would look and also reminded him in a satirical way of the mysterious, melancholy women who gazed from the paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne Jones. Gleeson titled the figure, distorted her name and cast her as a 'pre-raphaelite satire'.

Below the surface of her form we are shown the dazzling whirr of the organic machine. Both artists grappled with concepts of the internal and the external and their aim with this sculpture was 'to suggest the vital inner structure of an apparently simple form, to suggest that by some kind of x-ray magic one could look through the opaque skin and see all that lay within.'

This collaborative sculpture was included in the 1948 exhibition held by the two artists in London. Other works shown in this exhibition, include 'Entities suspended from a detector' and 'Fever chart' by Robert Klippel, both in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Bibliography (23)

Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), Presence & absence: portrait sculpture in Australia, Canberra, 2003, 59.

'James Gleeson' by Geoffrey Smith, pg. 626-633., Art and Australia (Vol. 40, No. 4) Jun 2003-Aug 2003, Jun 2003-Aug 2003, 628 (colour illus.), 629.

Hendrik Kolenberg (Netherlands; Australia) (Author), Anne Ryan (Australia) (Author), James Gleeson: drawings for paintings, Domain, 2003, 45 (colour illus.).

'The ghost in the machine: Robert Klippel at the Art Gallery of New South Wales' by Michael Desmond, pg. 28-31., Art Monthly Australia Oct 2002, Oct 2002, 28-29.

'Junkyard god' by Jennifer Sexton', pg. R14-R15., The Weekend Australian 03 Aug 2002-04 Aug 2002, 03 Aug 2002-04 Aug 2002, R15 (colour illus.).

Robert Klippel: Catalogue raisonné of sculpture 2002, 2002, (colour illus.). No. 35 Madame Sophie Sesostoris (a pre-raphaelite satire)

Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), Robert Klippel, Domain, 2002, 30 (colour illus.), 31-34, 37-38, 41, 42-43 (colour illus.), 246.

'From junk to genius, it's all here' by Bruce James., The Sydney Morning Herald 21 Aug 2002, 21 Aug 2002.

'Robert Klippel: make it new' by Deborah Edwards, pg. 78-85., Art and Australia (Vol. 40, No. 1) Sep 2002-Nov 2002, Sep 2002-Nov 2002, 78 (colour illus.).

'A sculptor of singular vision' by Deborah Edwards., The Sydney Morning Herald 20 Jun 2001, 20 Jun 2001, 20 (illus.). Obituary by Deborah Edwards for the Metropolitan Section

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 205 (colour illus.), 301.

Aspects of Australian art 2000, 2000, (colour illus.). card no. 10: James Gleeson and Robert Klippel 'Madame Sophie Sesostoris (a pre-raphaelite satire) 1947-48

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 153 (colour illus.).

Exhibitions events - Art Gallery of New South Wales Nov 1998-Jan 1999, Nov 1998-Jan 1999, 12 (colour illus.), 13.

Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), Steven Miller (Australia) (Author), Australian Collection Focus: James Gleeson & Robert Klippel Madame Sophie Sesostoris (a pre-raphaelite satire) 1947-48, Sydney, 1998, cover (colour illus.), back (colour illus.).

'Australian Focus on Madame Sophie' by David Tunny, pg. 15., Look Nov 1998, Nov 1998, 3 (colour illus.), 15 (colour illus.). The image on page 3 is in detail.

Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 76 (colour illus.).

National Gallery of Australia (Australia, estab. 1982) (Editor), Surrealism: Revolution by night, Canberra, 1993, 217 (colour illus.).

Art and Australia (Vol. 31, No. 1) Spring 1993, Spring 1993, 43 (colour illus.).

Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 27, 28 (illus.), 29.

Maudie Palmer (b.1944) (Author), Robert Klippel: a retrospective exhibition of sculpture and works on paper, Bulleen, 1987, 3.

James Gleeson (Australia, b.1915, d.2008) (Author), Robert Klippel, Kensington, 1983, 60, 61 (colour illus.), 62, 463. plate no. 56; titled 'Opus 35 'Madame Sosostris''

'Madame Sosostris' by James Gleeson and Robert Klippel (1979) 1979, 1979. This is a short 10-minute film produced by Film Australia as part of the 'Australian Eye' series.

Exhibition history (8)

James Gleeson and Robert Klippel, The London Gallery Ltd., 09 Nov 1948–04 Dec 1948.

Robert Klippel: collage and drawings 1947-1983 (1983-84), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 18 Nov 1983–03 Jan 1984.

Surrealism: Revolution by Night, National Gallery of Australia, 13 Mar 1993–02 May 1993.

Surrealism: Revolution by Night, Queensland Art Gallery, 21 May 1993–11 Jul 1993.

Surrealism: Revolution by Night, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 30 Jul 1993–19 Sep 1993.

Australian Collection Focus: James Gleeson and Robert Klippel: Madame Sophie Sesostoris, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 01 Nov 1998–24 Jan 1999.

Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000.

Robert Klippel: a tribute exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 09 Aug 2002–13 Oct 2002.