Geoffrey Clarke
a sculptor's studio
Past exhibition
6 March 2020 – 10 January 2021
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This display celebrated a bequest of works from the studio of the prolific post-war sculptor, Geoffrey Clarke RA (1924–2014).
Comprising medals, prints, sketches and notes, the significant collection unites many threads of Clarke's work.
Trained in Lancaster and London in the aftermath of the Second World War, Clarke is recognised as an important sculptor of the post-war era, having worked on some of the most prestigious artistic projects of the age, including Coventry Cathedral and the Festival of Britain. No less significant was his activity as a medallist and a printmaker, one of the key focuses of the display, which combined fine impressions of some of Clarke's best-known prints with the artist's heavily annotated proofs.
With so much of the bequest being formed of Clarke's preparatory material, the display offered a unique opportunity to witness the artist's creative process in action. In particular, it showed the ways ideas and motifs were translated from bronze to paper and vice versa – and how sculptors such as Clarke approached prints not as flat objects, but as three-dimensional works of art.
