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THE UNKNOWN FRINK
Sep 2008
THE UNKNOWN FRINK:
Previously unseen sculptures & drawings from the 1950s, 60s & 70s
19 September - 18 October 2008
THE UNKNOWN FRINK presented pieces from the 50s, 60s and 70s that only came to light in 2008. The exhibition commenced with Bird, dating from 1952, and is a sibling piece to the now infamous Bird held within the Tate collection.
(The Tate) Bird was first shown at the London Group exhibition in 1953 and kicked-off the young artist’s ultimately successful career that saw Frink become a Companion of Honour (CH), Dame of the British Empire and Royal Academician (RA). The three buyers of the three bronze casts were Tate, the Arts Council of England and Benjamin Britten. Around the same time Frink became associated with the British school of art coined the Geometry of Fear* (though Frink herself would never subscribe to any such classified grouping of artists). Following this early success, Frink accepted a teaching post at Chelsea and was invited by artist friend Peter Collins to live in a building of artist studios, off Park Walk alongside Fulham Road.
After Lis moved to the next studios over in Fleming Close, she produced a portrait of Peter’s wife Georgette Collins in about 1960. Lis made very few portraits of women - generally preferring men in every aspect of life - and Georgette was one of the few women close to Lis during her early Chelsea days. The time of the portrait represented a significant moment in time for Lis Frink, when she was quickly becoming established and was simultaneously in the process of leaving her first husband Michel Jammet, shortly to be married to her second of three husbands, Ted Pool.
In 1960, the young Frink still couldn’t afford to cast all of her numerous pieces into bronze, and therefore the portrait of Georgette remained a plaster until 2008, when the Elisabeth Frink Estate authorised a small collection of bronze casts for Georgette and close family. One of the Georgette Collins head casts was displayed in THE UNKNOWN FRINK exhibition.
It was not only the portrait that was left uncast as an original plaster. Georgette and Peter helped support Lis early on by preventing the young sculptor from throwing out pieces by offering to pay nominal amounts for work. (It is also known that Peter and Lis also swapped pieces from time to time.) A fine collection of plasters and drawings correspondingly resulted at the Collins’ residence at Stanley Studios.
The discovery of Bird in the Collins’ collection (a different bird from the already known Tate Bird) was not only an exciting discovery for collectors and other Frink admirers, but furthermore presented new information on the artist’s techniques. Research for The Unknown Frink revealed that Bird is almost absolutely identical to the Tate Bird, with good reason. After Frink completed the Bird as collected by Tate, which was made whilst Elisabeth was still a student at Chelsea College of Art under the guidance of Willi Soukop, Lis used a hacksaw to chop off parts of the figure including the wings (one can observe the crude hacksaw markings), and slightly rework, to create an altogether new piece. It is now known that a whole series of Birds was created, yet the only versions seemingly to have survived are the one in the Tate/ACE/Britten collections and this one which remained a plaster until 2008. With the assistance of the Elisabeth Frink Estate, Mumford Fine Art presented Bird as originally intended by the artist, noting the dark – black, as opposed to brown – patination, in-keeping with the artist’s other very early bronzes.
Another revelation comes with five newly revealed Goggled Heads (for incomplete chess set) – the Goggled Heads series presenting Frink’s angry response to the atrocities of the begoggled generals during the Algerian War. These examples are notably smaller going up to 9 cm (3.5 in.) in height. They were originally created for a chess set, yet they still retain the authority of the more familiar Goggled Heads.
THE UNKNOWN FRINK also premiered a series of four Horse and Man pencil and washes. Dating from the 70s, her peak for recognised equestrian work, they further substantiate the high regard she retains for the depiction of horses. The fluid, expressive gestures – so different in feeling from the early Bird - reveal a subject close to her heart.
Other noteworthy pieces include a Birdman sculpture and drawing study (both 60s), as well as Man on Horse II, one of several studies for the Horse and Rider on Dover Street, London.
*The Geometry of Fear School dates from the Venice Biennale of 1952, other artists including Bernard Meadows, Lynn Chadwick and Eduardo Paolozzi.