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Dora House,

108 Old Brompton Road,

South Kensington,

London,

SW7 3RA

News

Moving with the weight of a dandelion clock

By Richard Stone FRSS, Trustee

17 Jun 2020

Isn’t a dandelion clock, a perfect, timeless form? Inherently sculptural, distinctly present, yet temporal, ephemeral, within and beyond reach and time. It has returned to mind often these days, as I have looked to it, in domesticity, suspended. Its familiar, perfectly preserved presence has become

A message from the President

By Clare Burnett, PRSS

15 Jun 2020

Over the last couple of weeks we have all, individuals and institutions, witnessed events that have made us think deeply about how a seam of racism runs through our society and question our part in it. At the Royal Society of Sculptors we are committed to actively addressing what it means to be an

Steam-cleaning, new work & connecting through Zoom

By Ros Burgin MRSS, Trustee

11 Jun 2020

The first day of lockdown I simply took stock and tried to come to terms with the new parameters not only of the situation at large but also of my new boundaries, the footprint of my house and garden. Then I bit the bullet and began to steam clean the house, a tedious task but I let the shock wash

Horror vacui

By Rob Olins FRSS, Trustee

02 Jun 2020

I’m looking at my wall chart that has my events written on it planned pre-Covid. Right now I should be running workshops with blind and partially sighted people at the University of Bath physics lab and Anechoic Room. These were to be very crowded, intensive sessions and would no doubt be

From the archive: Pioneering Women

Sheila Mary Mitchell FRBS

01 Jun 2020

Sheila Mary Mitchell FRBS (1926-2006) displayed talent early in her life, exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1945, aged only eighteen. She then went on to train at Guildford School of Art under Willi Soukop, who later supported her application for membership to the Royal Society of Sculptors. After

A lockdown experience

By Kate Ashton, Trustee

27 May 2020

Through years of commuting to the City of London by tube, I never wished to work from home. I liked the clear demarcation between work and home life, and secretly relished the commuting time when I could read a book or simply gather my thoughts for the day ahead. But I have been amazed by how easily

A new start in West Sussex

By Laura Ford FRSS, Trustee

22 May 2020

At the end of September my partner, Andrew, and I moved from our studio and living space in London to start building new studios and living space in West Sussex. It had taken us nearly four years and lots of planning battles to get there, but finally we had started the build and were making progress

Creativity & Wellbeing Week 2020

18-24 May 2020: Positive Futures

19 May 2020

Creativity and Wellbeing week is run by London Arts in Health and the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance. The festival creates core partnership events, while encouraging and supporting organisations and individuals to organise their own activities. This year the festival is being held digitally,

Postponed exhibitions, azaleas and cuckoo clocks

By Gordon Watson, Trustee

14 May 2020

Our winter plans and preparations for Spring were never intended to be for lockdown, at least until we saw what was happening in Northern Italy in February. They have, though, helped us through this challenging time, especially as our garden has become our ‘creative space’ as well as our

Pioneering Women in Public

By Rosamund Lily West, Research Curator

04 May 2020

Now we are all being encouraged to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus, perhaps it is the ideal time to draw up a mental list of where you want to go and what you want to do when this period ends and we can return to normal? Throughout the British Isles we are lucky to have public sculpture as part

Extraordinary Times

By Amale Freiha Khlat MRSS

01 May 2020

It has been a long six weeks since I have been at home, trying to make sense of this lockdown, named: Covid 19. At the start of the week, silence is still dominating the city and mayhem the news. Looking at all the reports behind my different size screens, I can’t seem to see the end of it. Maybe in

Do less, but do it better

By Amy Stephens FRSS, Trustee

29 Apr 2020

The recent mantra of ‘do less but do it better’ couldn’t be more appropriate right now. As a relatively new mum of twin boys, my life as an artist is shifting and evolving every day. I moved my studio to our garden flat in Clapham ahead of our new arrivals in order to continue to work from home.

Artists in lockdown

By Clare Burnett, PRSS

23 Apr 2020

Five weeks in and some days are better than others. I hope you are all managing ok, especially those of you who are shielding, home schooling, on your own or just finding it difficult. The night the lockdown was announced I realised I wouldn’t be able to use my studio which is in a communal block,

Collecting for the Archive

By Rosamund Lily West, Research Curator

16 Apr 2020

The archive of the Royal Society of Sculptors is housed at our headquarters in Dora House. It is an unique collection and has been documenting the workings of the Society and its members since our foundation in 1905. The archive consists of minute books, which are mostly handwritten and have

In Celebration of the Archive

By Rosamund Lily West, Research Curator

14 Apr 2020

I have been working at the Society as Paul Mellon Research Curator for over a year now. The archive is unique and documents the workings of the Society, as well as its’ members, since the Society was founded in 1905. The archive consists mainly of annual reports, council minute books and over 1,000

Be careful what you wish for

By Alex Harley, Trustee

08 Apr 2020

Be careful what you wish for. I honestly don’t think that I am responsible for this outbreak but just a few weeks ago, I dreamt of being able to have just two weeks solitary time in the studio. I wanted time to think, draw and mull over ideas for a new project and be away from all distractions. Now

Testing Time

By Fiona Campbell, Gilbert Bayes Award winner 2019-20

01 Apr 2020

While we are all learning how to live differently during this terrible pandemic - a worrying time for humanity - I’m trying to find positives in all this instability. It will undoubtedly change the world. On a micro scale, artists are having to re-adjust our practices and finances after cancelled

From the archive: Pioneering Women

Naomi Blake FRBS (1924-2018)

30 Mar 2020

Naomi Blake FRBS (1924-2018) became an Associate member of the Society in 1979 and a Fellow in 1993. Born in Czechoslovakia in 1924 into a large Jewish family, she spent the last nine months of the war in Auschwitz. During a march through a forest, she escaped with friends whilst being shot at. Her

Some Lockdown Thoughts

By Almuth Tebbenhoff, Vice President

30 Mar 2020

Like many of us I thought at first ‘oh great, I can work to my heart’s content, have exquisite silence and potter around in the garden - all my favourite things'. Thoughts such as ‘we had it coming for plundering and destroying our earth’ were also in the mix a little further to the back. The

Not much of a studio, more my older son’s bedroom with him in Chicago…

By Bill Price, Trustee

24 Mar 2020

In my long engineering career I have never really worked from home. I’m now getting the hang of it and I’m noticing a few interesting points. I’d say I’m busy in three areas of activity which are: taking to work colleagues, staying in touch with immediate family and helping support organisations I’m

Article: International Women’s Day 2020

By ROSAMUND LILY WEST, PAUL MELLON RESEARCH CURATOR

03 Mar 2020

International Women’s Day 2020 For International Women’s Day, I wanted to celebrate the women in the ‘Pioneering women at the heart of the Royal Society of Sculptors’ project, and the way women changed the perception of who – or what – a sculptor is. The project, funded by the Paul Mellon Centre,

Dora Gordine, Javanese Dancer/Oriental Dancer, (1927-28). Royal Society of Sculptors’ archive.

From the archive: Pioneering women

Dora Gordine FRBS (1895-1991)

26 Feb 2020

Dora Gordine became an Associate member of the Society in 1938, and was made a Fellow in 1949. Gordine was born in Latvia, and lived in Estonia, Paris and London. She settled with her second husband Richard Hare in Kingston at her home and studio Dorich House, designed by Gordine herself. Between

article: on the importance of a pen

By Grizedale Residency and Gilbert Bayes Award winner, Karolin Schwab

25 Feb 2020

Going to residencies has been a crucial part of my practice for a long time. Usually I try to take as little as possible with me. A few years ago I would always take a good book and at least a pen with me. What is an artist without a pen? However, I often find that I don’t use these things in the

Karin Jonzen, maquette for Mother and child. Installed on the London County Council’s Sydenham Hill estate in 1960.

From the archive: Pioneering women

Karin Jonzen FRBS (1914-1998)

12 Feb 2020

Karin Jonzen FRBS (1914-1998) was born in London of Swedish parents. She studied sculpture at the Slade under A. H. Gerrard. Despite Gerrard’s dislike of Greek sculpture, steering his students instead to Ancient Egyptian works, Jonzen became inspired by the sculpture of Ancient Greece upon visits to

Emmeline Pankhurst’s gravestone, red sandstone. Brompton cemetery, London

From the archive: Pioneering women

Eva Dorothy Allan FRBS (1892- 1996)

19 Dec 2019

Eva Dorothy Allan FRBS (1892-1996) changed her name to Julian Phelps Allan around 1929. Sources vary as to the explanation for this name change, and reasons suggested vary from wanting to be taken more seriously professionally; wanting to assert her identity publicly as a lesbian; or naming herself

Left Left (No No to Knock-Knocks) by Brian Griffiths

article: the importance of sculpture

By sculptor and Gilbert Bayes Award judge, Brian Griffiths

19 Dec 2019

I believe making sculpture is being caught up with things, a realisation that self and stuff is always mixed up. Sculpture sits in the world with us, it is an object like us. Nice. Sculpture is thinking with things, or considering how things think – contesting the distinction between thoughts and

Homage to the Square (Daniel and Me)_2019_Pizza Box and Used Condom_Photo_Tim Bowditch

Article: Mojo-ha, a second look at Mono-ha for today

By Guillaume Vandame

07 Nov 2019

Unexpectedly, I first became aware of Mono-ha after attending a talk on Jiro Takamatsu (1936-1998) at Asia House in autumn 2018. It’s a subject that in some ways has become more unfashionable than other art forms to emerge from Japan. It lacks the absurdity and messiness of Gutai, a contemporary art

Article: 'What is Japan?'

Michael Houlihan, Director General of Japan House London considers how the answer to 'What is Japan?' is constantly evolving

05 Nov 2019

Japan House London was honoured to lend its support to the Society’s latest exhibition Inside/Out: Jiro Takamatsu and Keiji Uematsu in Conversation. With Rugby World Cup this year, the Tokyo Olympics next, and the Osaka World Expo in 2025, Japan is very much on the agenda. At Japan House on

From the archive: Pioneering Women

Lady Kathleen Scott FRBS (1878-1947)

05 Nov 2019

Lady Kathleen Scott FRBS (1878-1947) was famous as the grieving widow of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the Antarctic explorer. However, she had a long and successful career as a sculptor, becoming an Associate of the Society in 1928 and a Fellow in 1946. She studied at the Slade School of Art in

Welcome to our new Volunteer Coordinator

23 Oct 2019

We are delighted to announce that Abigail Day has joined our team as Volunteer Coordinator. She comes with a wealth of experience gained in the same role at Cass Sculpture Foundation as well as various positions at The Lightbox in Woking, Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth and the New Art Centre at Roche

From the archive: Pioneering Women

Josefina de Vasconcellos FRBS (1904 - 2005)

07 Oct 2019

Josefina de Vasconcellos FRBS (1904-2005) was the daughter of a Brazilian diplomat and English Quaker mother. In 1930, she married fellow artist Delmar Banner and they made Cumbria their home, adopting two sons, Billy and Brian. Vasconcellos had a lifelong love of children: she and Delmar had over

Inside/Out: Jiro Takamatsu and Keiji Uematsu in conversation

30 September to 29 November

27 Sep 2019

Inside/Out pairs the work of two important Japanese artists Jiro Takamatsu (1936-1998) and Keiji Uematsu (b.1947). This exhibition of sculpture, works on paper and photographs will create an exciting dialogue between two very different artists, bringing post-war Japanese art and the influential Mono

Article: The importance of copyright to artists

Naomi Korn Associates

27 Sep 2019

Naomi Korn Associates are specialists in copyright, data protection and licensing, helping clients manage their rights and privacy responsibilities and help artists, businesses, public sector organisations and charities manage their rights, simply. They are passionate about protecting the rights of

Article: The importance of data protection to artists

Naomi Korn Associates

17 Sep 2019

Naomi Korn Associates are s pecialists in copyright, data protection and licensing, helping clients manage their rights and privacy responsibilities. The below blog looks at the importance of data protection to artists. It has been over a year since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was

Article: Drawing and sculpture

Hannah Higham, Curator at the Henry Moore Foundation, considers the importance of drawing for sculptors

03 Sep 2019

This summer I was thrilled to see Henry Moore’s Woman on the sculpture terrace at Dora House. Its installation coincided with the Royal Society of Sculptors’ series of exhibitions Parallel Lines prompting a conversation between sculpture and drawing and including works on paper by Moore. In

From the archive: Pioneering Women

Rosamund Mary Beatrice Fletcher FRBS (1914 – 1993)

03 Sep 2019

Rosamund Mary Beatrice Fletcher FRBS (1914 – 1993) became an Associate member of the Society in 1945 and a Fellow in 1957, and she also served on the council of the Society. She followed her father, the painter Blandford Fletcher, towards an artistic career. However, her medium was not paint but

Article: The Yorkshire Sculpture International

Greville Worthington, Chair of Yorkshire Sculpture Park explores what is an exciting time for both contemporary sculpture and Yorkshire

02 Jul 2019

I feel lucky to have seen such interesting sculpture recently, both close to home, and further afield. I write before having looked at the submissions to the Royal Society of Sculptor’s annual summer exhibition, from which, as this year’s guest selector I will make my selection, but come to this

Cecil Thomas in the studio at Dora House

From the archive: Cecil Thomas: Soldier Sculptor

A new project

02 Jul 2019

Cecil Thomas: Soldier Sculptor is a National Lottery Heritage Funded project which will focus on the personal wartime experiences of Cecil Thomas FRBS (1885-1976), one of the Society’s most prestigious members whose papers, including his unpublished autobiography, are held in our archives, and whose

From the Archive: Pioneering Women

Lady Feodora Gleichen (1861 - 1922)

01 Jul 2019

Pioneering Women is a research project designed to shine a spotlight on the lives, careers and legacies of the talented and extraordinary women at the heart of the Royal Society of Sculptors. Each month in our Shape & Form enewsletter, our Research Curator, Rosamund Lily West will share with you

From the archive: The Festival of Britain

Rosamund Lily West, our Research Curator explores our involvement with the festival of 1951

24 Jun 2019

The Great Exhibition Road Festival 2019 is a three-day festival in South Kensington. The festival offers a programme bringing together the science and the arts, echoing the vision that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had for the 1851 Great Exhibition, two centuries on from their birth in 1819. The

Article: Great Exhibition Road Festival

Sarah Berresford, Marketing & Communications Manager for Discover South Kensington invites you to explore the extraordinary this summer

04 Jun 2019

Leading cultural venues are joining forces to recreate the spirit of the Great Exhibition of 1851 for the 21st century. Over one weekend this summer, South Kensington’s Exhibition Road will host a celebration of curiosity and discovery, with a new, free festival of art, science and culture. Running

PARALLEL LINES: SCULPTURE AND DRAWING

13 May to 13 July, free entry

04 Jun 2019

This spring the Royal Society of Sculptors will be exploring the relationship between sculpture and drawing in its broadest sense in a new show, Parallel Lines: Sculpture and Drawing . Drawings from The Ingram Collection of Modern British Art are paired with drawings by contemporary sculptors, in a

From the archive: Pioneering Women

Barbara Tribe FRBS (1913 - 2000)

03 Jun 2019

Article: Illustrating Frink

Illustrator Olivia Lomenech Gill reflects on her first Elisabeth Frink encounter

15 May 2019

My first encounter with Elisabeth Frink’s work was an image of a horse in the downstairs toilet at a neighbours house. I went home and made a drawing on a large blackboard in white chalk. My father took a photograph of it. Of course, my unconscious chalk homage to Elisabeth Frink was nothing special

From the archive: Pioneering Women

Christine Gregory FRBS (1879 - 1963)

15 May 2019

From the archive: Pioneering Women

Our new archive research project

01 Apr 2019

My name is Rosamund and I am the new Research Curator here at the Society working on the ‘Pioneering Women’ research project, funded by the Paul Mellon Centre. Each month in our Shape & Form enewsletter, I would like to share with you something from the archive, and introduce you to some of the

Stephen Broadbent running a Masterpieces in Schools activity at a primary school in Chester. Photo credit: Art UK.

Article: Royal Society of sculptors partners with Art UK

Katey Goodwin, Deputy Director of Art UK announces it's new UK-wide sculpture project

27 Feb 2019

Art UK has started adding sculpture to their website as part of a unique UK-wide cataloguing project. The first thousand sculptures are now available online, free of charge, to people in the UK and all over the globe via www.artuk.org An estimated 150,000 more will follow by the end of 2020. These

Art UK Sculpture Project

Major UK sculpture project launches online

22 Feb 2019

Today (22 February 2019) sees the launch of Art UK’s unique sculpture project. The first thousand sculptures are now available online, free of charge, to people in the UK and all over the globe via www.artuk.org. An estimated 150,000 more will follow by the end of 2020. These first images, and their

From the archive: Alice Meredith Williams ARBS

Phyllida Shaw unveils the life and work of a little known sculptor

05 Feb 2019

‘Small of stature and delicate in appearance, with visionary eyes, she acquired amid the rigours of her student life a power of endurance which supported her in the heaviest work, and no obstacles deterred her undaunted spirit from carrying out an idea.’ This description of Gertrude Alice Meredith

Article: In partnership with Grizedale Forest

Hazel Stone reflects on the forestry Commission's centenary and recent collaborations with the Royal Society of Sculptors

15 Jan 2019

Entering a new year is often a time of reflection as well as a time of optimistically looking to the future and this is particularly so for the Forestry Commission as it celebrates it’s centenary in 2019. Originally set up following the First World War to restore the nation’s woods and forests and

Elisabeth Frink in film

A film made in conjunction with the exhibition Elisabeth Frink: A Collector's Passion

23 Nov 2018

Modern British artist Elisabeth Frink spent much of her career living and working in her beautiful country home in Dorset, Woolland House. This film looks at how this environment inspired her explorations of nature and humanity, through sculptures and prints that are both aggressive and vulnerable.

Anne Acheson putting her finishing touches to a sculpture called October in the 1920s

From the Archive: Anne Acheson CBE FRBS

The legacy of a sculptor whose achievements in WW1 still perpetuate

31 Oct 2018

Anne Acheson (1882-1962) was a sculptor, born in Portadown, Co. Armagh. She studied sculpture at the Royal College of Art, Kensington from 1906-1910. Subsequently her bespoke sculptures became popular in many houses and gardens. Her work was exhibited at the Royal Academy and she became the first

Conversation in Colour 6 - 27 Oct 2018

Paul Huxley RA and Holly Rowan Hesson

17 Sep 2018

The Line collaborates with the Royal Society of Sculptors to launch Conversation In Colour. London City Island, the new creative and cultural neighbourhood on Leamouth Peninsula, will host a brand new exhibition for Frieze London. Curated by the Royal Society of Sculptors, the exhibition will

Article: The Intermediary Family by Bharti Kher

Dea Vanagan, Hauser & Wirth Director, reflects on Kher's new artwork for Frieze Sculpture 2018

04 Sep 2018

In July, Frieze Sculpture returned to the English Gardens of Regent’s Park in London for its seventh edition. Curated by Clare Lilley, Director of Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 25 artists were selected through an open call by international galleries. With a mixture of existing and newly

Article: The Coffin Jump by Katrina Palmer

Helen Pheby, Senior Curator Yorkshire Sculpture Park discusses the park’s new 14-18 NOW installation

09 Jul 2018

The Coffin Jump by Katrina Palmer at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is inspired by the role of women in the First World War, particularly the all-female First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps). The artwork features a horse jump with texts written in response to the nurses’

Phillip King, Download Stretch Float Maquette, 2013. Image courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery. Photo: Luke A Walker

DUOLOGUE, 24 Sept to 2 Dec 2018

A live collaboration between Phillip King CBE and Alexandre da Cunha

05 Jul 2018

Phillip King CBE and Alexandre da Cunha, two of the leading sculptors working in the UK today, are coming together for a unique ‘live collaboration’ at the Royal Society of Sculptors , offering us a rare opportunity to glimpse into the artist’s studio and discover their working practises.

New award for young sculptors launched

Residency at Milwyn for Royal Academy Schools graduate

18 Jun 2018

Charlie Fegan is the first ever winner of an exciting new award providing aspiring young sculptors the opportunity to pursue their artistic ambitions. The Royal Society of Sculptors Bronze Award offers a student graduating from the Royal Academy Schools a 3 to 6 month residency at Milwyn Casting, a

Big Draw winners!

Museum & Galleries Award

07 Jun 2018

The Royal Society of Sculptors is absolutely delighted to announce that we have won the international Big Draw Festival Museum & Galleries Award 2017/18.

In Memoriam III, outside Royal Society of Sculptors

Faces of Sculpture

Portrait of a Profession, An Exhibition of Photographs by Anne Purkiss

14 May 2018

14 May – 14 July 2018 “I see photographs as documents of people, recorded in the context of their environment and their time. The interpretation of my subjects, or my part of being creative, lies in selecting the context, the environment and the moment in time.” Faces of Sculpture is an exhibition

Out Of Body

Exploring the differences between animate and inanimate

13 May 2018

I am fascinated by the interconnectedness of the human and non-human as a means of exploring our relationship with impermanence.

Inspired by Nature

In collaboration with Grizedale Forest

12 May 2018

Part of Grizedale Forest’s 50th Anniversary of Arts and Culture in the forest. 

From the archive: Isaac Witkin (1936 - 2006)

Internationally renowned sculptor, Society member & Henry Moore's assistant

01 May 2018

Nadine Witkin, talks about her late father

William Pye in Film

06 Mar 2018

A new exhibition recording the life and career of the artist since the 1960s.

FIRST@108 Public Art Award

Sculpture Terrace

06 Mar 2018

As winner of the First@108 Public Art Award, Norfolk has been given the opportunity to create his first-large scale piece of art.  

Jo Taylor MRSS

A new collaboration with J Sheekey Atlantic Bar

16 Jan 2018

Society member wins competition to show at Covent Garden restaurant

Looking to the sky

With Turrell's Skyscape

03 Sep 2017

“Scientific perspective is nothing but eye-fooling illusionism; it is simply a trick - a bad trick - which makes it impossible for an artist to convey a full experience of space” (Braque) How many times have you looked into a rectangle today, and how many times have you looked through that frame

Encountering El Peine de los Vientos

by Eduardo Chillida in San Sebastian

23 Aug 2017

Leaving the Mirakontxa Pasealekus, I enter the promenade and walk in a westerly direction, the promenade narrows and in the distance I see El Peine de los Vientos; suddenly rock outcrops obscure the view and instead, deep visceral sounds are felt and heard. Continuing, the promenade leads to a

Exploring Sculpture in the City 2017

Powerful interactions with place

07 Jul 2017

In the densely-built labyrinth of the City of London, where I work, the Sculpture in the City exhibition each year causes at least a few bustling office workers (including me) to focus on a sculpture and its place in the environment. The best of this year’s works interact powerfully with their