Although she was now living on the Continent, Frink continued work apace and often exhibited in England, traveling back and forth over the English Channel as necessary and maintaining connections to her native land. In 1967, Frink and her husband, along with Lin, moved to a house they had purchased in France a few years previously in the book Frink: A Portrait, Frink once commented that "it was really rather ironical that I should be living in France with my British rather than my French husband." The arrangement was comfortable, particularly since Frink's young son spoke fluent French and could attend local schools. From 1965 to 1967, Frink resumed teaching as a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art in addition to her regular work, which now including lithography and etchings. Her distinctive style, emphasizing the powerful and masculine, intrigued critics and solidified her position in the art world. In the early 1960s, commissions for massive sculptures and sculpture groups came in from public institutions and private businesses as Frink's popularity and notoriety increased. The following year, Frink remarried to native Britisher Edward Pool. Jammet and Frink had a son, Lin, in 1958 however, their marriage dissolved and they divorced in 1963. The couple married in 1955, afterward living primarily in London but often visiting Ireland. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Frink participated in numerous group exhibitions and occasional solo exhibitions, including three in the United States in 1961.ĭuring this period of Frink's life, she met architect Michel Jammet, a Frenchman living with his family in Dublin, Ireland. In 1958, she joined Waddington Galleries, a business relationship which would last nearly until the end of her life. George's Gallery, London, and by 1957 was receiving major commissions. In 1955, she had her first solo exhibition at St. Her duties as a teacher did not stop her from producing sculpture. Despite being pushed out by these art world changes, Frink enjoyed teaching and considered her years as an instructor to be useful for her development as an artist. However, in the early 1960s the tide in sculpture was turning to the more purely abstract as influenced by contemporary American art, while Frink's work retained a measure of the figurative. From 1954 to 1962, she also taught at St. After her graduation from Chelsea School of Art in 1953, she took a post as an instructor at the School, where she remained until 1961. Most earned a steady income from teaching and Frink was no exception. In mid-century Great Britain, the possibilities for artists to make their livelihood exclusively from their artwork were limited. Promptly, Frink became associated in minds of art critics with a number of "new school" sculptors, despite being several years older than she was. The show was a success, with London's prestigious Tate Museum buying one of Frink's pieces. In 1952, Frink held her first London exhibition as part of a show with three or four other contemporary sculptors. Upon moving into Chelsea from suburban North London after her first year of study, Frink enthusiastically entered into the bohemian lifestyle traditionally associated with art school. Frink completed eighteen months at Guildford before continuing her education in London at the Chelsea School of Art, where she had gotten a scholarship. After a brief flirtation with painting, she became a student of sculpting, the format that would dominate her artistic output for the rest of her life. In 1947, Frink entered the Guildford School of Art. When Frink went with her mother to visit her father, then stationed at Trieste, Italy, she solidified her interest in art after visiting museums in Venice. Her father was in the army, causing the family to move several times during Frink's childhood she attended school in Aldershot, Hampshire and also in Scotland, but commented in Frink: A Portrait that "the house is what I remember best." After Frink's father returned from fighting in World War II, the family traveled to Dorset, on the southern coast of England, where Frink developed an interest in drawing. Early Life and EducationĪ child of an upper-middle-class British family, Frink was born Novemin Thurlow, Suffolk, in the East Anglia region of the country. In addition to her work as a sculptor, Frink was a long-time art instructor at the college level and created lithographs and other works to illustrate books. Her sculptures typically displayed strength and aggression, and are now found throughout the world. Dame Elisabeth Frink (1930–1993), one of twentieth century Britain's foremost sculptors, is best known today for her naturalistic, powerful massive style exemplified by works featuring horses, dogs, and male figures.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |