William Tucker

Meru I

1964

Not on display

Artist: William Tucker born 1935
Medium: Painted steel
Dimensions: Object: 749 x 1930 x 1397 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by the Contemporary Art Society 1968
Reference: T01060

Catalogue entry

William Tucker b. 1935
T01060 MERU I 1964
Not inscribed.
Painted steel, 29 1/2×76×22 1/4 (75×193×56·5).
Presented by the Contemporary Art Society 1968.
Coll: Purchased by the C.A.S. from the artist through the Rowan Gallery 1966.
Exh: The New Generation, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1965 (28 repr.); New Acquisitions of the Contemporary Art Society, Cumberland House, Porstmouth, January–March 1967 (50).
Repr: J Reichardt, ‘La Jeune Génération en Grande Bretagne’ in Aujourd'hui, no.50, July 1965, p.81.

‘MERU I’ is one of an edition of three the other two being in the collections of the artist and of Beatrice Monti, Milan. The artist wrote (24 August 1969): ‘The Sculpture was one of a group of pieces (“MERU I”, “MERU II”, “MERU III”) based on an identical overall structure, a kind of stepped bridge; the internal measurements of which remained constant through the series. A similar kind of unit is developed through the series, from a flat cut put plane (I) to a projected solid shape (II) to a modelled volume (III)’. In each case the rectilinear stepped bridge is combined with a serpentine curve.

Published in:
The Tate Gallery: Acquisitions 1968-9, London 1969