Estate Of British Sculptor George Fullard To Sell At RWB Auctions
RWB Auctions is proud to announce a dedicated sale of works from the estate of the celebrated Sheffield-born sculptor George Fullard ARA (1923-1973), taking place on 26 November.
This exceptional auction features approximately 800 bronzes, pencil drawings, and found-object pieces by Fullard, many of which have never been seen at auction before. The collection also includes preparatory sketches and models for major public works, offering an intimate view into the artist's creative process.
Offered entirely without reserve, this sale represents a rare opportunity to acquire affordable pieces by one of post-war Britain's most original sculptors, whose work is held in many major collections, including those of the Tate, the V&A and the Arts Council.
Wartime Service
Born in Sheffield on 15 September 1923, the son of a coal miner, Fullard initially studied at the Sheffield College of Art. His training was interrupted by the Second World War and the devastating Sheffield Blitz of 1940: a formative experience that would echo throughout his later work.
In 1943, Fullard joined the 17th/21st Lancers, serving as a gun operator. During the bloody Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944, he suffered life-changing injuries when an anti-tank shell almost severed his arm and leaving permanent scars on his head and shoulder. After the war, Fullard took up a deferred place at the Royal College of Art, where he studied under Frank Dobson and Richard Garbe before spending time in Paris.
The trauma of war became a defining force in Fullard's sculpture. In his monograph on Fullard, art historian Michael Bird described his work as 'phantasmagorical fusions of battlefield trauma and childhood games'. Repeated themes include walking, running and falling, his subjects arrested in motion, as well as children playing with firearms.
Back and front of Lost Patrol, 1964, featuring toy soldiers.
Critics have sometimes aligned Fullard with the so-called 'Geometry of Fear' generation, typified by artists like Reg Butler and Lynn Chadwick, whose angular, expressive forms conveyed post-war anxiety and existential unease. Yet, even amid this milieu, Fullard's work stood apart; in 1958, the critic John Berger hailed him as the best young contemporary sculptor in Britain.
Found Objects
Among Fullard's most recognisable and inventive works are those constructed from found objects, including rubbish, discarded toys, and other fragments of everyday life, transformed into haunting sculptural assemblages. Several striking examples are featured in this sale, many of which date back to his tenure as Head of Sculpture at Chelsea School of Art (1963–1973).
These works demonstrate Fullard's restless experimentation with form and material. Several pieces in the auction showcase his fascination with maritime imagery, a recurring theme throughout his career.
First Voyage, 1966, mixed media assemblage with found materials.
Notably, a sketch associated with the three-metre-tall Cross of Saint George - a mixed-media sculpture now held by The Tank Museum - appears among the drawings. Its fractured surfaces of tile and wallpaper evoke the shattering of domestic peace by conflict, one of Fullard's enduring subjects. Smaller-scale found-object pieces, incorporating toy soldiers and household fragments, incorporate similar themes.
Public Sculpture
By the early 1970s, Fullard's reputation as both artist and teacher was firmly established. In April 1973, he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, though he would sadly die that same year, on Christmas Day, at the age of fifty.
His posthumous reputation grew steadily, particularly in his native Sheffield, where several of his sculptures now stand as lasting memorials. Sketches and models for several of these important commissions are featured in this auction. Among them is a plaster for Mother and Child, which was first exhibited at London's Woodstock Gallery in 1958. A bronze of this piece is sited in Norwich's Cathedral Close.
Mother and Child, pencil on paper, 1959 (left), and Mother and Child, plaster, 1958, with Pregnant Woman, wood assemblage, 1959 (right).
Other works include preparatory material related to Walking Man, the bronze figure that today strides towards the entrance to Sheffield's Winter Gardens, marked by a plaque dedicated to the artist. A pencil drawing from 1957, previously exhibited in 1998 at the Mappin Art Gallery (now Weston Park Museum), is thought to relate to this piece.
Smaller bronzes, wooden maquettes, and clay reliefs also feature prominently in the sale, including a selection of busts that range from the figurative to the highly abstract, modelled after Fullard's wife, Irena.
A selection of small-scale sculptural works to be sold in RWB Auctions 26 November sale.
No Reserves
Since his death, Fullard's work has been widely exhibited, beginning with a major retrospective at the Serpentine Gallery in 1974, followed by shows at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (1997), and most recently a centenary exhibition at the Graves Gallery in 2023. Many of his notebooks and drawings are now preserved at the Tate and the Henry Moore Institute.
Our 26 November auction may represent the final large-scale release of works from the artist's estate, with all pieces offered without reserve. Estimates range from £100 for drawings to £3,000–£5,000 for the larger bronzes.
Speaking about the sale, Head Auctioneer Gareth Wasp commented:
'I have particularly enjoyed cataloguing this collection and delving into the artist's thought process as he created these works. A certain sobriety can be felt in some of the sketches, which I personally find both interesting and moving; they possess a quiet emotional depth that resonates strongly. It is fascinating to see how forms first explored in his drawings later reappear in his sculptures.'
Viewings will take place on Monday, 24 November (9:30am – 4:30pm), Tuesday, 25 November (9:30am – 7:00pm) and by appointment.
The sale opens at 10am on 26 November with bidding available via Easy Live Auction, The Saleroom, by phone, and in person at our High Street salerooms in Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire. Global shipping is available through our trusted delivery partners.
Two Figures in a Car, ink, by George Fullard.