Josefina de Vasconcellos

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Josefina Alys Hermes de Vasconcellos
Royal Academy Schools
Known forSculpture
SpouseDelmar Banner (m.1930–1983, his death)

Josefina Alys Hermes de Vasconcellos (26 October 1904 – 20 July 2005) was an English sculptor who worked in bronze, stone, wood, lead and perspex. She was at one time the world's oldest living sculptor. She lived in

St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Trafalgar Square
).

Biography

de Vasconcellos was born in

Quaker.[1][2][3]

After drawing lessons at

Royal Academy Schools and was placed second in the 1930 Prix de Rome contest.[2]

The Hand by Josephina de Vasconcellos, War Memorial Hall, St Bees School.
Bronze cast of Reconciliation in Coventry Cathedral

During the

St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square in London to construct a Nativity scene of life-sized figures, which became a regular fixture of the church's Christmas display.[5] In the 1990s she designed a memorial to the pilots who were based near her Lake District home during World War Two.[4]

In 1977, the department of peace studies at

Hiroshima Peace Park in Japan.[8] An additional cast is in the grounds of Stormont in Belfast.[9] To mark the opening of the rebuilt German Reichstag building in 1999, another cast was placed as part of the Berlin Wall memorial.[8][1]

Throughout her life de Vasconcellos undertook numerous large commissions often carved in a flowing, naturalistic style. This contrasted with the more abstract styles of, for example Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. de Vasconcellos' subjects were frequently religious and many of her sculptures are in parish churches and cathedrals around Britain, including the cathedrals in Blackburn, Bristol, Carlisle, Gloucester, Liverpool, Norwich and Wells and in parishes such as St Bees Priory and St Mary's Church, Warrington.[4] The National Art Gallery in Rio de Janeiro, Sheffield Art Galleries, Glasgow Art Galleries and the Civic Centre in Southampton all hold examples of her work.[4]

de Vasconcellos was also an active member of the Royal Society of Sculptors for much of her career.[7]

Personal life

Escape to Light sculpture by de Vasconcellos at Haverigg.

In 1930 de Vasconcellos married the artist and academic Delmar Banner, who was an

Anglican lay preacher, and they remained together until his death in 1983 and they adopted two children in 1940.[5] Her husband led her to be received into the Church of England, and the topic of faith came to run through much of her artistic work. The couple adopted two boys, and the family settled in a farmhouse at The Bield in Little Langdale in the Lake District, where she made a studio in an outhouse, as well as decorating the house with carvings and a mural.[10] de Vasconcellos and her husband were also god-parents to at least 20 children.[7] In 1967, through associations with Pelham House School in West Cumbria, the family helped found the Beckstone Centre, an Outward Bound-type facility for disadvantaged boys at Beckstones in the Duddon Valley.[5] In 1975, she initiated the founding of The Harriet Trust, on the Duddon Estuary at Millom so that disabled children could enjoy nature holidays within a purpose-built dwelling; the modified former fishing trawler The Harriet was used as a recreation space. It was such work, rather than her sculpture, that led to de Vasconcellos being awarded the Order of the British Empire
in 1985.

Last years

In 1988, illness forced de Vasconcellos to leave Little Langdale, and for a time she was accommodated at Isel Hall near Cockermouth.[11] She was able to find a small cottage and studio at Peggy Hill, Ambleside.[11] She continued her creative work well into her 90s, her final piece, Escape to Light, was created in 2001 to commemorate the men of the Independent Off-Shore Rescue Service; it is located at Haverigg on the Cumbrian coast.[5] De Vasconcellos died at 6 am on 20 July 2005, a few months after her 100th birthday, at the Orchard Lodge nursing home, Blackpool.[11] Josefina de Vasconcellos published in her 99th year 'She was Loved: Memories of Beatrix Potter' (Titus Wilson 2003) an account with letters of the friendship between the two cultivated over many years including a number of photographs of her sculptures and other illustrations.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-953260-95-X
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Margaret Lewis (22 July 2005). "Josefina de Vasconcellos". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0902028553
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 1-85928-4566
    .
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Linda Clifford (21 July 2005). "Josefina de Vasconcellos". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  6. ^ University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII (2011). "Miss Josephine Alys de Vasconcellos". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "From the archive: Pioneering Women | Royal Society of Sculptors". sculptors.org.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b Rosamund Lily West (13 June 2019). "Uncovering the life and work of forgotten women sculptors". Museum Crush. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Stormont Castle - points of interest". nidirect government services. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Fantastic £2m Lake District home for sale with past owners' historic artworks". Westmorland Gazette. 7 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  11. ^ a b c "Josefina de Vasconcellos". Visit Cumbria. Retrieved 19 September 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Josefina de Vasconcellos.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Josefina_de_Vasconcellos&oldid=1220408793"