DOI issue:
No. 223 (October 1911)
DOI article:West, W. K.: Some recent monumental sculpture by Sir George Frampton, R. A.
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21155#0062
Sir George Framp ton, R.A.
and "beauty. sketches for two spandrils at the victoria and
albert museum. by sir george frampton, r.a.
the chances which were open to him of inventing beyond its legitimate limits into something peril-
fresh ways of using his material and of arranging ously near to prettiness. The dignified simplicity
the details which were available. His success of his large pieces of sculpture—of such things,
with work of this order is significant because of for instance, as his delightful Peter Pan in this
all the things which come within the sculptor's range year's Royal Academy Exhibition, his memorial to
the memorial tablet is perhaps the most exacting.
It can so easily be made either commonplace or
foolishly exaggerated in manner, it offers so many
temptations to the man of uncertain conviction
to evade difficulties by merely accepting an easy
convention, it is so difficult to deal with in an
unusual way without going beyond the bounds of
correct taste, that the artist who can give to it
a real measure of personal interest and a true
touch of originality can be claimed as a man with
a quite exceptional understanding of the subtleties
of his craft.
But this exceptional understanding it is that
makes Sir George Frampton so admirably suited
for the position he holds as one of the chief
leaders of the modern movement in British
sculpture. The refinement of taste, the grasp of
decorative principles, the cultivated sense of fitness
which distinguish his smaller works are just as
appropriately displayed in his larger undertakings.
Increase of scale does not diminish the subtlety of
his expression, and most certainly does not de-
crease the delicacy of his methods. He has so
thoroughly mastered the essentials of the art of
sculpture that he finds seemingly no difficulty in
establishing and maintaining the right relation
between the scale of his work and the manner in
which he carries it out. He would be as unlikely
to coarsen a large piece of work simply because it
was large as he would be to weaken a small one
because it admitted of more minuteness of finish
and more precise elaboration of detail.
At the same time he would never commit the
mistake of sacrificing the breadth and virility of
his work to gain an excessive degree of refinement monument to canon major lester, erected at
—or rather for the sake of carrying refinement Liverpool, by sir george frampton, r.a.
40
and "beauty. sketches for two spandrils at the victoria and
albert museum. by sir george frampton, r.a.
the chances which were open to him of inventing beyond its legitimate limits into something peril-
fresh ways of using his material and of arranging ously near to prettiness. The dignified simplicity
the details which were available. His success of his large pieces of sculpture—of such things,
with work of this order is significant because of for instance, as his delightful Peter Pan in this
all the things which come within the sculptor's range year's Royal Academy Exhibition, his memorial to
the memorial tablet is perhaps the most exacting.
It can so easily be made either commonplace or
foolishly exaggerated in manner, it offers so many
temptations to the man of uncertain conviction
to evade difficulties by merely accepting an easy
convention, it is so difficult to deal with in an
unusual way without going beyond the bounds of
correct taste, that the artist who can give to it
a real measure of personal interest and a true
touch of originality can be claimed as a man with
a quite exceptional understanding of the subtleties
of his craft.
But this exceptional understanding it is that
makes Sir George Frampton so admirably suited
for the position he holds as one of the chief
leaders of the modern movement in British
sculpture. The refinement of taste, the grasp of
decorative principles, the cultivated sense of fitness
which distinguish his smaller works are just as
appropriately displayed in his larger undertakings.
Increase of scale does not diminish the subtlety of
his expression, and most certainly does not de-
crease the delicacy of his methods. He has so
thoroughly mastered the essentials of the art of
sculpture that he finds seemingly no difficulty in
establishing and maintaining the right relation
between the scale of his work and the manner in
which he carries it out. He would be as unlikely
to coarsen a large piece of work simply because it
was large as he would be to weaken a small one
because it admitted of more minuteness of finish
and more precise elaboration of detail.
At the same time he would never commit the
mistake of sacrificing the breadth and virility of
his work to gain an excessive degree of refinement monument to canon major lester, erected at
—or rather for the sake of carrying refinement Liverpool, by sir george frampton, r.a.
40