Dylan Lewis (South African, born 1964)


Standing Leopard signed and numbered 'Dylan Lewis 13/15, S.121' (to base beneath leopard's tale)bronze53.5 x 14.5 x 90cm (21 1/16 x 5 11/16 x 35 7/16in).
|ProvenanceAcquired from Everard Read.A private collection.Since his first experiments with the subject in the early 1990s, Dylan Lewis has subsequently developed a reputation as one of the greatest sculptors of the cat family.Lewis's exploration of the motif was inspired by a direct experience of the wild animal in its natural environment. He was awed by the raw energy of South Africa's fauna and flora, spending much time in the coarse and desolate landscape between the Cape Peninsula and the interior. Of all the animals he encountered, the leopard was the one that most fully communicated the wildness of the region. Lewis's sculptures are also characterised by their anatomical precision. The musculature of the animal is rendered in great detail; a celebration of its lithe athleticism. BibliographyL. Twiggs, Shape Shifting: From animal to human: The Sculpture of Dylan Lewis, (London, 2009) pp.1-3.