ART 18|21

Dame Elizabeth Frink (1930-1993)

Dame Elisabeth Frink was born in Thurlow, Suffolk, in 1930. She studied at Guildford School of Art (1947-49) and Chelsea School of Art, London (1949-53) under Bernard Meadows and Willi Soukop. She taught at Chelsea School of Art (1953-61), St Martin's School of Art (1954-62) and was visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art (1965-67).

Men, dogs, horses and birds were constant subject-matter throughout Frink's career. She modelled, cast in plaster and then carved the plaster, much as Henry Moore had done, to achieve a tougher surface when the plaster was cast in bronze. Unlike Moore, however, she rarely worked with the female form: "I have focused on the male because to me he is a subtle combination of sensuality and strength with vulnerability", (Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture, Harpvale, 1984).

Frink's drawing and graphic work followed the same themes as her 3-dimensional work, executed with a similar economy of means and feeling for surface texture.
As one of Britain's leading sculptors, Frink was awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of Surrey (1977), Open University (1983), University of Warwick (1983), University of Cambridge (1988), University of Exeter (1988), University of Oxford (1989) and University of Keele (1989).

Frink received official recognition for her work, being awarded the CBE in 1969 and in 1982 she was created Dame of the British Empire