George Wyllie was born in Shettleston, in the east end of Glasgow in 1921. For a while, he worked as a customs officer before taking up art. He described himself as a "scul?tor".
His public sculptures can be found across the world. Wyllie's installations such as The Paper Boat and The Straw Locomotive, which was burned in Glasgow in 1987, question the post-industrial world we live in.
His famous Paper Boat was seen by millions as it sailed from Glasgow to New York and back to Scotland. It made it onto the front page of the Wall Street Journal when it berthed at the World Financial Center in New York in 1990.
Wyllie's work catches your attention with its innate humour and warmth, but the questions it raises run much deeper. He was a president of the Society of Scottish Artists and provides an award for an imaginative work at their annual exhibition.
Wyllie was awarded the MBE in the New Year's Honours List 2005.
In the 1980s, Wyllie met the American kinetic artist, George Rickey, who invited him to work with him in America. He later described this experience as a "great art release". He was also hugely influenced by the German artist, Joseph Beuys, after meeting him through Edinburgh gallery owner, Richard Demarco.
This etching and collage entitled "Hibernia" and it relates to Wyllie's 32 Spires Project. Spires intrigued Wyllie and he produced numerous meditations on the spire throughout his career.
The 32 Spires for Hibernia was one of George Wyllie’s most accomplished artworks. It comprised of a circle of thirty two spires made from wood and stone indigenous to each of the thirty two districts that made up Hibernia.
The original 1992 work was installed just outside Derry, spanning the boarder between the two nations. In this way, Wyllie used the work as a means to encourage peace and balance during the height of The Troubles.
The artwork no longer exists and this etching is a rare legacy of the original sculptural installation.
The print features both image and text - the text relating to the 32 Counties of Ireland. Wyllie has applied, by collage, a little red line. This delineates the border between North Ireland and Eire. I like that Wyllie has used green ink to make the image - very appropriate!
It is generally a nice clean impression; there is a little light mark to the lower left hand corner of the paper - but this is very faint and not disfiguring to the artwork. The etching is No. 16 taken from the plate of a planned edition of 50 prints. It is now a hard to find work - and for sure - I cannot find another available for sale - so I presume impressions are rather rare survivors.
It is in excellent vintage condition with no condition issues. It comes in a simple gold-coloured metal frame - this measures 60.5 x 37.5 cm. It has no mount on the print (as acquired by us). It is printed on nice thick paper. I have taken lots of pictures for your inspection.
Postage here is quoted for special next day delivery with the Royal Mail. This is £10 and will be applied to your order at the checkout. It will have to be posted to the UK only.