Studio: international art (37.1906)

Alfred Drury, A.R.A.

The year of his appearance at the ~—^ ;
Academy saw also the completion of his ' : , I . '

term of work and study in Paris. He P^^^^^^^^i
came back to London and for a while was Jg1'
engaged as one of the large staff of -^r ~ '^**^jffiHlMttfc

assistants in the studio of Sir Edgar

Boehm. But this was only a kind of ; V J i

interlude in his career, a temporary ex- k^y>« M

pedient for bridging over the intermediate Blrfraf : mm J&fe

time between his return and the establish- wtKr mmm-
ing of his reputation as a sculptor to fSlmmi m*

whom important commissions could safely 'WF^^ljH
be entrusted. He had not long to wait ^jf^

for the full recognition of his claims, and " , \

step by step he has advanced until now m^^i^^mmm '

he is regarded as one of the chief leaders m^Jmrnm^HmW-

ui a movement which has brought almost Bf'' ^5SmWm\

unprecedented prosperity to the profession "j ^^mfSmm^^SSitmm^mmk-

which he follows. wKfrnim^m\

■ ^HR.~'A^mmmM

Meanwhile he took care to make the Rm£'''' ^-^ms M

customary appeals for attention by sending

works, always interesting and often ambi- jK
tious, to the periodical exhibitions. In vH^'^r^^-^^d ^^^B

1886 he had at the Academy two terra- 1 . /v-S'S" ^-fcfc^^*-/" ^^^^m^mWm\

cotta busts, Fred. Isham, Esq., and James V ' - • '

Campbell, Esq.; in 1887 a bust of George

Cowell, Esq.; and in 1888 a statuette, " J - „

The Genius of Sculpture, and an ideal

bust, // Penseroso. In 1889 he exhibited

three things, a bust of Madame Nordica,

another of Solomon S. Cohen, Esq., which '^^^

Burlington House in 1890, and was

bought for the Manchester Corporation study for head of " eve " by ai.fred drury

0 . ^ (iec Illustration on page 10)
Gallery; and m three following years

he was represented by life-sized statues, Echo, Special mention must be" made of one of his

Harmony, and Circe, and in 1892 and 1893 by contributions to the 1898 Academy, for it was an

pictures as well, two oil paintings with the titles important example of his work in decorative sculp-

He loves me, he loves me not, and Daffodils. His ture, or rather in sculpture which was to be applied

principal work in 1894 was the Circe statue in to decorative purposes. This was the colossal

bronze — he had shown it the year before in female figure Eve, one of a series of electric light

plaster—and with it he sent a bronze head of standards to be erected in the city square at Leeds

St. Agnes. Both these were acquired by the Leeds as part of the scheme of decoration which has

Corporation for the City Art Gallery. An ambitious been carried out there with such marked success,

piece of sculpture, a large relief, The Sacrifice of Isaac, Two more pieces of sculpture for the same place

followed in 1895; and in 1896 and 1897 two delight- were exhibited in the following year—an elaborately

ful ideal busts, Griselda and The Age of Innocence, ornate and finely proportioned Base and Column

the first of which was bought by the Council of the for Electric Light and a statue of Joseph Priestley.

Royal Academy for the Chantrey Fund Collection. Before the next exhibition came Mr. Drury had

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