Clyde Harwick "Nature's Sculpture" Brutalist Copper & Steel Wall Sconces

The torch was Harwick's primary instrument — not a finishing tool but the generative force. Working in the American studio metal tradition of the late 1960s and 1970s, Clyde Harwick built his "Nature's Sculpture" pieces by oxy-acetylene cutting sheet steel into curling, flame-like fronds, leaving edges raw and serrated, then composing them over radiating fans of copper rod that spray outward like the filaments of a sea creature or the unfurling fronds of a desert plant. The surfaces are their own autobiography: brassy gold concentrates along the cut margins where the flame ran hottest, deep bronze and near-black heat patina floods the broad bodies, and flashes of copper read between the layers — color coaxed entirely from combustion, not applied. Each of the two mirror-image panels is a sculptural event in its own right; hung as a flanking pair, they generate a formal dialogue that reads as architecture.

These are also working light fixtures. Concealed candelabra-base flame-tip bulbs nest within the metalwork at each piece's core, and when lit, the warm point-source glow animates the open negative space, sends shadows into the copper spray, and transforms the wall behind them into part of the composition. The pairing is registered: the lot includes Harwick's original hand-completed "Nature's Sculpture" Certificate of Originality, signed Ch, hand-numbered #1 of 1, and identifying this as "Two Wall Sconces – Standing Sculpture." This is a unique work — not an edition. Harwick's certificate program was his direct commitment to the buyer that no second example exists.

Clyde Harwick was a American studio sculptor working primarily in the 1960s through 1980s who built his practice around the aesthetic possibilities of the cutting torch on copper and steel. His "Nature's Sculpture" series — torch-cut, flame-patinaed, signed, and individually registered — sits squarely in the current of American Brutalist decorative sculpture that emerged in the late 1960s as studio artists and industrial craftsmen pushed welded and cut metal into the domestic interior. The movement drew energy from the broader Brutalist impulse in architecture and design: raw material, exposed process, honest surfaces. Harwick's particular contribution was the organic vocabulary — fronds, spirals, radiating filaments — that gave his pieces a vitality distinct from the more geometric work of contemporaries. His torch-cut steel reads less like fabrication and more like growth.

Each panel is signed Ch directly on the metal. The lot includes the original hand-completed Certificate of Originality — "nature's sculpture by clyde harwick" — numbered #1 of 1 and signed by the artist, confirming this is a unique, registered, hand-built original. No edition, no duplicate.

• Two (2) mirror-image Clyde Harwick wall sconces
• Original "Nature's Sculpture" Certificate of Originality, signed and numbered #1 of 1
• Bob Ross standee (72" H) shown for scale — Not Included

CONDITION

Good overall and structurally sound throughout. Both sconces are wired, tested, and fully functional — all electronic components work, flame-tip bulbs illuminate. Internal wiring is field-spliced with electrical tape at the bulb sockets and bundled with the original braided cord; sockets are marked Leviton 125V; bulbs are standard candelabra-base flame-tip type and are user-replaceable. Heat patina, torch-cut burrs, raw copper rod ends, and exposed oxidation are all original to Harwick's process — the combustion surface is the finish.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Each panel: 48" H × 24" W × 5.5" D
• Weight: 7 lbs each
• Materials: Torch-cut steel, copper rod
• Signed: Ch (on metal)
• Sockets: Leviton, 125V
• Bulb type: Candelabra-base flame-tip (user-replaceable)
• Edition: #1 of 1 (unique work)
• Total pieces in lot: 2
• Bob Ross standee (72" H) shown for scale — Not Included