Dora Clarke
Dora Clarke | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1895 Harrow, London, England |
| Died | 1989 (aged 93–94) |
| Known for | Sculpture, wood carving |
| Spouse | Gervase B Middleton |
Dora Thacher Clarke, later Dora Middleton, (1895–1989) was a British sculptor and wood carver who also wrote about, and promoted African art.
Biography
Clarke was born in
Clarke's works included bronze castings, memorials and wood sculptures, often of African heads. For example she was commissioned to sculpt the posthumous portrait bust of Sir Walter Morley Fletcher.[5] The most notable of her memorials is the panel and medallion tribute to Joseph Conrad at Bishopsbourne in Kent, which was unveiled in 1927.[2] Clarke also wrote about, and promoted African art and spent a year, between 1927 and 1928 in Kenya, where she made many drawings which when she returned to London she used as the basis for wood carvings and bronzes of tribal figures.[6][7][1] Wood carving became her technique of choice, often working with hardwoods and, on occasion, sperm whale teeth.[4]
Clarke married Admiral Gervase B Middleton in 1938 but rarely exhibited work under her married name.[2] During World War II, Clarke was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee to produce a portrait medallion depicting a serviceman who had been awarded the George Cross.[8] This proved to be the only portrait medallion acquired for the WAAC collection.[9]
Sculptures by Clarke are held in various museums, including the Ashmolean Museum which also holds a 1936 portrait of her by Orovida Camille Pissarro.[10]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-902028-55-3.
- ^ a b c d "Mapping the Practice & Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851-1951". University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII. 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
- ISBN 0-95326-095-X.
- ^ ISBN 0-7108-1144-6.
- ^ Memorial to the late Sir Walter Morley Fletcher (1873-1933): secretary of the Medical Research Council, 1914-1933. Oxford, England: Medical Research Council. 1937.
- Journal of the Royal African Society. 34 (135). Oxford University Press / The Royal African Society: 129–137.
- ^ Grant M. Waters (1975). Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950. Eastbourne Fine Art.
- ^ Imperial War Museum. "Correspondence with Artists, Mrs Middleton (Dora Clarke)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-300-10890-3.
- ^ "Dora Clarke (1936) by Orovida Camille Pissarro". Ashmolean Museum. Retrieved 16 March 2017.