Lynn Chadwick rose to prominence in post-war Britain. Having exhibited alongside Henry Moore, Reg Butler at the pivotal New Aspects of British Sculpture exhibition in 1952, Chadwick went on to fully establish his reputation by winning the International Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1956 – ahead of Giacometti – becoming the youngest sculptor ever to receive the award. At first working by welding, in 1956 Chadwick began casting his sculptures in bronze, giving his works durability and a more standardised surface. Yet, it wasn’t until the 1970s that Chadwick fully developed the visual language that is synonymous with his work. ‘Maquette II, Jubilee III’ is typical of Chadwick’s mature style, with the male figure having a rectangular head and the female a triangular.

The image of a walking cloaked couple caught the imagination of Chadwick and recurs throughout his oeuvre. In the 1980s he created several maquettes of striding figures entitled Jubilee, culminating in the large scale 'Jubilee IV' from 1985. Movement, either implied or actual, is a fascinating and dynamic element in his work. The power of ‘Maquette II, Jubilee III’ comes alive with the rigid yet billowing capes, and strong angular strides of the legs. The taut curves of the figures give drama to his larger scale pieces without overwhelming their abstract form.

Chadwick rejected the smooth, direct-carved forms of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore to create a rougher textured skin. Using phosphoric acid Chadwick could control the tactile finish of his cast bronze sculptures and separate himself from what he considered to be the greasy shine of green and black patinas. From 1985 Chadwick began working with Pangolin Editions in Gloucestershire, where ‘Maquette II, Jubilee III’ was cast. Dissatisfied with the quality of many of his castings from the 1970s this allowed him to re-gain control of the casting process and restore the integrity of his sculptures by giving them the texture, colour, form, and ‘attitude’ that he always sought for his sculptures.

Lynn Chadwick's work can be found in the collections of major international museums including the Tate, London; National Museum of Wales; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art; Musee Nationale d'Art Moderne, Paris; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice; Galleria Nazionale d-Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC. He was awarded a CBE in 1964 and made a Royal Academician in 2001.