Denis mitchell sculptor biography
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Denis Mitchell
Drawing Painting Sculpture
Renowned for his polished, dynamic bronzes, Denis Mitchell evolved a visual language that was inspired by his intimate knowledge of working in and on the landscape. He was chief assistant to Barbara Hepworth between 1949 and 1959. He initially worked with wood, slate and stone, but eventually found his own forms in sand-cast bronze. His implicit understanding of the balance of line and form created by the interplay of light and surface imbues Mitchell's tall abstract sculptures with a unique vitality.
Denis Mitchell was born in Wealdstone, Middlesex, in 1912. He was brought up in Swansea and went to evening classes at Swansea College of Art in 1930. Soon after he moved to Barnoon, St Ives. His interest in modern art was aroused by meeting Bernard Leach and Adrian Stokes when they were in the Home Guard during the War. It was with his brother Endell that he organised the first show of modern art in St Ives at the Castle Inn. From the late 1940's, Denis became central to the St. Ives Modernist artists.
The Artist
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Denis Mitchell
(1912 - 1993)
P1093
Signed, inscribed and dated on underside of base
Nigerian Guarea Wood, given to the artist by Barbara Hepworth
PROVENANCE
With Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert, London
Private collection
£85,000
LITERATURE
Exhibition catalogue, Festival Exhibition of Sculpture by Denis Mitchell, Swansea, Welsh Arts Council, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, 1979, n.p., no. 42, illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, St Ives 1939-64: Twenty Five Years of Painting, Sculpture and Pottery, London, Tate Gallery, 1985, p. 204, no. 178, illustrated.
J. Halkes, exhibition catalogue, Denis Mitchell: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture 1932-1992, St Ives, Penwith Galleries, 1992, pp. 38-39, no. 44, illustrated.
P. Curtis and C. Stephens (eds.), exhibition catalogue, Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World, London, Tate Britain, 2015, pp. 88, 89, 191, fig. 82.
EXHIBITION
London, A.I.A. Gallery, Denis Mitchell: Sculpture, February 1957.
Bristol, Arnolfini Gallery, Denis Mitchell, Sculpture: John Plumb, Paintings, March - April 1967, no. 19.
Bath, Festival Gallery, Denis Mitchell: Sculpture 1950-1978, April - May 1978, no. 3.
Swansea, Welsh Arts Council, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
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Denis Mitchell was an graphic designer and designer.
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