It
is hoped that her wish will be granted as it is planned
that Sherborne House will become home to her archive with
a permanent and rotating collection of her work on display
in the House and grounds.
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Born
in Suffolk in 1930, Dame Elisabeth's father, Ralph,
was an officer in the 7th Dragoon Guards and late
of the renowned Indian Army cavalry regiment, Skinner's
Horse. She learned to ride before she was four, adored
being outside with horses and dogs and learned to
shoot before she was five. All very military and county,
perhaps, except that same love of nature, of horses
and dogs. . .of being at home in what was then seen
as very much a man's world. . .and her uninhibited
fascination for 'maleness' itself would later illuminate
and inform her artistic life.
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She
attended Guildford School of Art, followed by Chelsea School
of Art and had her first major exhibition at the Beaux Arts
Gallery in London, when she was only twenty-two. The occasion
was marked by the Tate Gallery purchasing 'Bird'. Thereafter
Dame Elisabeth went from strength to strength. Some of her
best known sculptural works are 'Eagle', installed at the
JFK memorial, Dallas, Texas; 'Water Buffaloes', for the
Hong Kong Land Company; the famous 'Goggle Head' series;
a commission for Paternoster Square by the City of London,
featuring a flock of sheep (which subsequently seems to
have gone missing); 'Warhorse', on display at Chatsworth;
and 'Risen Christ', for Liverpool Cathedral.
In
later years Dame Elisabeth produced a series of stunning
portraits, including those of Sir George Solti and Sir Alec
Guinness. She also illustrated Homers' 'Odyssey' and 'Iliad'
for the Folio Society; 'Aesop's Fables, published by Alastair
McAlpine and Leslie Waddington; and a series of etchings
taken from the Canterbury Tales, again published by Leslie
Waddington. The latter caused some comment for their frank
portrayal of the sex act. Dame Elisabeth was an artist who
never lost her earthy appreciation of life.
She
exhibited throughout the world and had honorary doctorates
from the universities of Warwick; the Open University; Cambridge;
Exeter; Oxford; Keele; Manchester and Bristol and a full
doctorate from the Royal College of Art. Awarded the DBE
in 1982, Dame Elisabeth was a Trustee of the British Museum;
a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission; and Trustee of
the Welsh Sculpture Trust.
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Conventional
yet controversial, Dame Elisabeth's art was groundbreaking.
Her work was untouched by passing fashions and she
was uncompromising in her pursuit of perfection. Soon
after completing 'Risen Christ', Dame Elisabeth died
of cancer at home on the 18th of April 1993..
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