Born 1924, Darley Dale, Derbyshire, UK. Died 2014

Geoffrey Clarke attended Preston School of Art from 1940 to 1941 and then Manchester School of Art from 1941 to 1942 before serving in the War with the RAF. He returned to his studying at Lancaster and Morecambe School of Arts and Crafts from 1947 to 1948, before attending the Royal College of Art in 1948, where he remained until 1952. In 1951 he was awarded a Royal College Travelling Scholarship and also received the silver medal at the Milan Triennale for a collaboration with Robin Day, the furniture designer. He returned to the Royal College from 1968 to 1973, where he was Head of Light Transmission and Projection Department.

He was commissioned by Sir Basil Spence, architect of the new Coventry Cathedral, to make three of the nave windows, the High Altar Cross and Candlesticks, the Crown of Thorns and Flying Cross and the Cross and candlesticks for the Undercroft. The cathedral was consecrated in 1962.

Clarke’s first solo show was held at Gimpel Fils Gallery, London, in 1952, the same year in which his work was included in the Venice Biennale. In 1965 he had a retrospective at the Redfern Gallery, London and his work was included in British Sculpture in the 1960s exhibition at the Tate Gallery. Similarly, he was selected for British Sculptors ‘72, at the Royal Academy of Arts and for British Sculpture in the Twentieth Century, at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1981. Solo exhibitions include Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich and tour and a retrospective at the Fine Art Society in London in 2000. His work is in the collections of the Arts Council, the Tate Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

Slab and Bar Relief