23. Sandstone carving
Four years at art school produces a lot of art, not all of it easy to transport back home. This stone carving was one of a number of large, and heavy, pieces made by a student at Leeds College of Art called Wyatt. It was an exam piece, twenty-four inches high, designed for the foyer of a maternity hospital. He simply did not have the means to take his work away and store it and said that if I wanted any of his carvings I could have them. My father obligingly drove to college to collect my work and anything of Wyatt's that we could transport. There were some other lovely carvings, sadly too large for us to handle.
4 years at my art school didn't produce a lot of art from me, Cher - ask Cro.
ReplyDeletewow, what an incredible story. I'm glad you got such a lovely piece, but sorry for the artist who couldn't keep it.
ReplyDeleteAnd most of mine was stolen!
ReplyDeleteThe figures have Rodin hair. One often wonders where all this stuff ends up; you've solved the answer to one piece anyway.
Lady M's cousin taught at Leeds. I'll ask details when she's up!
Lady M has risen. Her cousin was/is Richard Chesterman; he was head of Graphics. Don't know when!
ReplyDeleteDear L, Welcome! Wyatt was very talented. I've no idea what happened to him, but love this one piece of work that I managed to have carried home. (The back of the carving is absolutely beautiful but I couldn't turn it round to photograph!)
ReplyDeleteCro, how fascinating, and what a small world! Himself and I were students at the same time as JC. He married Josie, in our year, and they changed their name to Chesterman. He will have been head of graphics in the 70's.
I would take it as a compliment that your work was stolen! Himself, who was a lecturer for many years, tells me that it was not uncommon for work to have been stolen and used by others at interview to gain college places.
Do we need to draw a veil over Tom's college years?
Most of the stuff made in the sculpture department ended up in the skip when I was there - it was the beginning of the 'conceptual' cop-out, and no 'teacher' really new how to carve stone anyway. I had a somewhat undignified arrival and an undignified departure, Cher. Not much happened during the intervening years.
ReplyDeleteI hate to admit, but I once loaned a load of work to a female student for an interview at Chelsea. She was accepted!!!
ReplyDeleteAs you say; small world.