Frink: The Official Biography Of Elisabeth Frink Book

Born in 1930 in Suffolk, Elisabeth Frink burst onto the art scene by selling her first sculpture to the Tate Gallery while still a student, and quickly became the femme formidable of the Chelsea scene, working most waking hours and socialising the rest. Her early work, after discovering the sculptures of Auguste Rodin, was strongly figurative and instinctive, centring on animals, heads and the naked male form. These themes and methods were to remain with her as she ploughed her own artistic path, irrespective of trend, in much the same way as Francis Bacon. Her pieces are typically alive with a ferocious energy, so that their audience feels, often uneasily, a brazen sexuality from them that was certainly part of their charismatic creator (a friend noted that he could tell when she replaced a lover by the change in shape of her male figures' genitals). By the time of her death in 1993 she had consolidated a considerable reputation through her numerous commissions and exhibitions without quite achieving the degree of imaginative release she had once threatened, despite producing consistently fine work. This is the first major biography of Elisabeth Frink, and Stephen Gardiner writes with unstinting loyalty of a friend he obviously adored. The adulatory tone can make the prose flat at times, but by the end it is impossible not to be drawn in by his enthusiasm, and one is left with a strong desire to re-acquaint oneself with the work of this brave and driven artist. -- David VincentRead More