Astrid Zydower
Astrid Zydower | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 August 1930 Germany |
| Died | 27 May 2005 (aged 74) MBE , 1968 |
Astrid Zydower
MBE
(4 August 1930 – 27 May 2005) was a British sculptor.
Biography
Zydower was born in 1930 in a small village in what is now Poland, which at that time was within the borders of Germany.Nazi government so in 1939 the three Zydower children were evacuated to Britain on the last Kindertransport train to leave the territory before the start of World War II.[1][2]
During The Holocaust both of Zydower's parents were deported to and then killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp.[1][2]
In England the three Zydower children were taken into foster care by a
Sheffield School of Art.[1] From there she won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London where, from 1952 to 1957, she was taught sculpture by first Frank Dobson then John Skeaping and attended Leon Underwood's drawing classes.[2][3] When she graduated Zydower was offered a job as an assistant to Jacob Epstein but refused the role as she had already been commissioned to work on the Observer Film Exhibition and the Telford Bicentenary Exhibition by Richard Buckle.[3]
In 1958 Zydower completed eleven busts of English literary figures for the Brussels World Fair.
Among Zydower's students at Hornsey was Shirley Ann Shepherd, the wife of
Ballet Rambert, led to a lifelong friendship and several other studies of ballet dancers, including members of the New York City Ballet.[4][1] In 1984, for the fountain on the central terrace of Harewood House in Yorkshire Zydower created a nine foot high bronze of Orpheus carrying a leopard.[1] In later life she concentrated on etching, mainly of figures from Greek mythology, rather than sculpture.[1]
Works by Zydower are held in both the
MBE and for many years lived in a large house, that contained her studio, in Kentish Town
in north London and it was there that she died in 2005.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Madeleine Harmsworth (6 December 2005). "Astrid Zydower". The Independent. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ ISBN 0-953260-95-X.
- ^ ISBN 1-85928-4566.
- ^ a b "Marie Rambert". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ "A Tragedy of Fashion". Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
Further reading
- Astrid Zydower Her Life & Works by Peter Amsden, (ASAT Productions, 2009)
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Astrid Zydower.
- 2 artworks by or after Astrid Zydower at the Art UK site
- Image of Zydower in the National Portrait Gallery collection
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