Dame Elisabeth Frink, R.A. (1930-1993)

In 1952, while still a student at Chelsea School of Art, Frink exhibited Bird at Beaux Arts, London, where in an almost unprecedented sign of conviction it was bought by the Tate Gallery.

Frink comments, 'The birds at this time were really expressionist in feeling...emphasis on beak, claws and wings - and they were really vehicles for strong feelings of panic, tension, aggression and predatoriness.' (see B. Robertson, Elisabeth Frink Sculpture Catalogue Raisonné, Salisbury, 1984, p. 31).