Born in the Leith area of Edinburgh (1924-2005), Paolozzi grew up in the family’s ice cream and sweet shop, and it was the sweet papers and cigarette cards sold there which inspired his trail-blazing love for collages.
At Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull on August 17 the 2ft 7in x 3ft 7in (79cm x 1.1m) Tube station oil on paper study was bought for £19,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium), just below low estimate, by the Dunsmore family from the Edinburgh Beer Factory.
And ones of their brews happens to be... Paolozzi Lager.
The purchase coincides with a competition, already being run by the Edinburgh Beer Factory, to design a ‘colourful and eye-catching’ mosaic for a 6ft x 3ft panel to be attached to the back wall of the brewery’s new ‘taproom.’
The winner, who will receive a cheque for £1000, is due to be announced soon, with installation due in September. The design remit – very fittingly - was ‘to take inspiration from Eduardo Paolozzi’s mosaics at Tottenham Court Road Tube’.
Back to Scotland
Charlotte Riordan, contemporary art specialist at Lyon & Turnbull said: “We are delighted that Paolozzi’s design for the Central Line platform will be coming back to Scotland.
“In this unusual and colourful design, Paolozzi draws on his knowledge and understanding of popular culture and iconic symbolism. The concept united his abiding interest in the culture of mechanisation and his empathy with the tube station's historic context and its geographical location.
“Having taught at the nearby Central School of Art in London in the Fifties, Paolozzi had retained a broad, deep-rooted and affectionate understanding of the local area and its diverse communities.”
Part of the Tottenham Court Road mosaics which could not be kept in situ following the recent station refurbishment is set to go on display in Edinburgh. The arches mosaics over the escalators will be restored and reconstructed in the University of Edinburgh in a project led by the local college of art (where the artist studied in 1943 and later became a visiting professor).
