Dorset History Centre has been lucky enough to be gifted the archive of Dame Elisabeth Frink, one of Britain’s foremost modern sculptors – this was provided to DHC in accordance with the wishes of the artist’s late son Lin Jammet. Work to catalogue the archive has been underway since October and you will hear from the archivist undertaking this task in a future blog post. Work on the collection itself has unfortunately been interrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, but there are still things we’d like to share with you about Frink and our project.
The first of these is that a new podcast has been released by the Paul Mellon Centre. The podcast, which features DHC and the archive provides a fascinating and extremely accessible overview of Frink’s life and career and puts her work into the context of both the era in which she lived, but also the artists with whom she mixed. What comes across strongly is that Frink was a true individualist – not willing to join any particular ‘school’ of art even to the point of using seemingly out-of-favour techniques and materials in her work. Despite being hugely popular with the public – and the first woman to be created a Royal Academician in the category of sculpture, it seems that only in more recent times has her reputation (and the value of her works) begun to rise. The podcast features significant input from Annette Ratuszniak, former curator to the Frink Estate and a close collaborator on our project here at DHC. You can listen to the podcast here.
The second thing we wish to mention is that thanks to fundraising by Dorset Archives Trust and its President Val Pitt-Rivers, we were fortunate in being able to raise over £5,000 which allowed DHC to purchase a bespoke case in which to safely exhibit the several Frink bronzes that formed part of the gift received by DHC. The case is now built and ready for delivery – as soon as we can re-open our doors! Alongside the bronze sculpture, DHC also now owns several fragile Frink plaster maquettes – and these too, along with archival material will be displayed in our new case. We look forward to being able to make this available to the public in due course.
Longer term, it is hoped that other Dorset-based notable artists and craftspeople will consider depositing their archives at DHC. Archives provide evidence and context – the stories and detail behind the creation of works of art and why in turn we gain pleasure from viewing and engaging with the work.
I am engaging in an art history MA Module, specialising in modern sculpture. Just heard the podcast on Elisabeth Frink and a couple of years ago saw an amazing exhibition in Aylesbury.
I would like to visit the archive when it re opens.
Many thanks for the comment, Wendy. The archive we hold is substantial, and includes a large collection of published material (books, exhibition catalogues, publicity) as well as business and personal correspondence, some artwork (which includes a small number of bronzes and plasters), and a substantial quantity of photographic material – both personal, and professional. We are still cataloguing at the moment, but as soon as the catalogue is launched and available online, we will be announcing this here and on our social media. Once that happens we would be delighted to make the collection available to all. Keep an eye on our website for details of our current opening hours.