Dame Elisabeth Frink

Born: 1930

Dame Elisabeth Frink

This internationally known British sculptor and graphic artist was born at Thurlow in Suffolk and trained at Guildford and Chelsea Schools of Art under Bernard Meadows and Willi Soukop. Her early work was influenced by Moore and Giacometti: angular and menacing bronze figures with touches of surrealism.

From the 1960's her work became smoother and more direct with a concentration on horses and male figures. She used exaggerated modelling and anatomy to try to express the inner spirit of the subject.

Her numerous public commissions have included works for Salisbury, Coventry and Liverpool Cathedrals, Manchester Airport, the JK Kennedy Memorial in Dallas, Texas - portraits of Sir William Walton, Lord Zuckerman, Sir Alec Guiness, Sir George Solti and many others. She has also illustrated many books such as the Folio Society's IIiad.

Like many sculptors Elisabeth Frink was attracted to printmaking, working with Curwen Chilford over many years to produce both Lithographs and Screenprints.

She lived and worked in Dorset for the latter part of her life and became Dame in 1982. In 1985 she was given a Royal Academy Retrospective Exhibition. She died on April 18, 1993 in Dorset, England.