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The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations

© trustees of the Paolozzi Foundation, licensed by DACS 2025. Image credit: Gordon Baird / Art UK

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This colossal work comprises a series of dismembered fragments of a human figure supported by, and interwoven with, a complex assemblage of abstract geometrical forms. The composition is dominated by a huge robotic head, severed at the shoulders and lying horizontally on a group of tall, mostly square-sectioned, pillars of different heights. Its cheeks are clamped by machine-like blocks, and its forehead is pierced by a deep circular indentation. Below this, two gigantic fists are tightly fastened around short poles of indeterminate function, while to the left, in a separate cluster of forms, a pair of feet, also lying on their sides, are arranged in a relationship suggestive of imminent locomotion. The two main groups of forms are linked by undulating lengths of square-sectioned tubing that trace a pathway from under the head, across the void in the centre of the sculpture like decorative ribbons, and finish by threading themselves through and around the feet.
Title

The Wealth of Nations

Date

1992–1993

Medium

bronze, brass & stainless steel

Measurements

H 400 x W 700 x D 300 cm

Accession number

EH12_GB_S013

Acquisition method

commissioned by the Royal Bank of Scotland

Work type

Sculpture

Custodian

Royal Bank of Scotland

Work status

extant

Unveiling date

2nd July 1993

Access

at all times

Signature/marks description

on recessed part of base below front hand: EDUARDO PAOLOZZI 1992/3

Inscription description

front faces of base below feet: KNOWLEDGE IS WONDERFUL BUT / IMAGINATION IS EVEN BETTER / EINSTEIN

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Located at

Redheughs Avenue,

EH12 9RH