Lynn Russell Chadwick
Teddy Boy and Girl II, 1957
Cast bronze
Gift of the artist and Wichita State University Purchase with WSU President's Office funds
For British artists like Lynn Chadwick, the 1950s brought sweeping changes. Born in 1914, Chadwick came of age during the Great Depression. Despite his early desire to be an artist, his parents pushed him to become an architectural draughtsman, a more practical and lucrative career. In the 1940s, he served as a pilot during World War II. That conflict hit the United Kingdom harder than the United States, both literally and figuratively. In addition to almost 400,000 deaths due to the war, the country was subject to an eight-month blitzkrieg during which they faced nightly bombings. This meant that rationing of food, medicine, and essentials like gasoline continued long after it had ceased in the United States, only ending in July of 1954 (the US ended rations on all products by 1947).
The 1950s, then, became a period of dramatic change. Teenagers, enthralled by American rock musicians like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, and excited to get out from under the austerity of post-war rationing, developed their own dissident youth culture. They adopted the ducktail hairstyle of American rockers, but the fashion of their own Edwardian ancestors, wearing long, draped jackets, narrow ties, and velvet collars. They formed gangs in the East End of London—and called themselves the “Teds,” or “Teddy Boys.”
In Teddy Boy and Girl II, Chadwick looked to the youth culture to provide a new subject for a new kind of sculpture. The originals of his works were assembled out of iron and other less valuable materials, rather than the costly bronze of this edition. His style was likewise new—semi-abstract, full of aggressive angles.