Erwin Fabian

Erwin Fabian

Vigil 2006
steel 71×46×40cm
$25,000

12 April – 10 May 2025

Erwin Fabian (1915-2020) was one of Australia’s most significant sculptors

He worked predominantly with different types of scrap metal which he was able to transform into a new natural order with a distinct identity and huge presence

He had the rare ability to create a new and convincing reality through which the viewer can be seduced, enchanted and captivated. Although his sculptures are non-figurative and do not imitate anything representational in the seen world, in the final analysis his sculptural creations do belong to the grand tradition of humanist sculpture. In other words, they interact with us on a human and emotive level: we come to believe in their existence not only as aesthetic objects, but as metaphors for the human spirit.

Erwin Fabian exhibited for more than half a century, and his work continued to grow in intensity, refinement and distilled beauty.

This is the fourteenth Erwin Fabian exhibition at Robin Gibson Gallery.

Born in Berlin in 1915, son of the painter Max Fabian (1873-1926), Erwin left for England in 1938. He was interned and deported to Australia in 1940 on the troopship Dunera. After internment he joined the Australian Army, and was later transferred to the Army Education Unit to do covers and illustrations for its ‘Current Affairs Bulletin’ until demobilisation in 1946. He left Australia for London in 1949 where he worked as a graphic designer and lectured in graphic design at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts. He returned to Australia in 1962 and held his first exhibition of sculpture at the Hungry Horse Gallery in Sydney.