Dora Thacher Clarke, later Dora Middleton, (1895–1989) was a British sculptor and wood carver who also wrote about, and promoted African art.
Dora Clarke | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1895 Harrow, London, England |
| Died | 1989 (aged 93–94) |
| Known for | Sculpture, wood carving |
| Spouse | Gervase B Middleton |
Biography
editClarke was born in Harrow in Middlesex.[1] Her father, Joseph Thacher Clarke was an American architect.[2] Clarke won a scholarship that allowed her to attend the Slade School of Fine Art. Aged fifteen, Clarke initially studied at the Slade on a part-time basis for three days each week throughout 1910 and 1911 but during 1915 and 1916 she studied sculpture there as a full-time student.[3] Clarke first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1923 and continued to do so until 1959.[4] In the early 1930s she was a regular exhibitor in group shows at the Goupil Gallery and in March 1937 had her first solo show at the French Gallery.[2] She also exhibited at the Paris Salon and with the Royal Society of British Artists.[1]
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
edit- ^ a b c James Mackay (1977). The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze. Antique Collectors' Club. 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.
- ^ David Buckman (1998). Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 1, A to L. Art Dictionaries Ltd. ISBN 0-95326-095-X.
- ^ a b Penny Dunford (1990). A Biographical Dictionary of Women Artists in Europe and America since 1850. Harvester Wheatsheaf. 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.
- ^ Dora Clarke (April 1935). "Negro Art: Sculpture from West Africa". 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.
- ^ Brian Foss (2007). War Paint: Art, War, State and Identity in Britain, 1939-1945. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10890-3.
- ^ "Dora Clarke (1936) by Orovida Camille Pissarro". Ashmolean Museum. Retrieved 16 March 2017.