Walter Ritchie died in 1997 and many of his other carvings in brick have sadly been lost, as the buildings that they featured on were demolished. He preferred to make public sculpture rather than private artworks.
The brick panels were the largest non-reinforced brick sculptures at the time and were actually produced at Richie's home in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Each panel was then transported in two pieces to be installed into their present homes. The quote on the final panel of the series comes from a lecture on the theme of 'Creative Man', given in Oxford in 1947 by Viscount Samuel.
I still think that these relief carvings are beautiful and inspiring, despite having seen them many, many times when passing by. The use of carving techniques directly into house bricks is also unusual and interesting. Here are some details, so that you can see the textures and markings that he created.
I like the 'over-spill' features such as the giraffe/kangaroo ears and the tips of the bird wings- they must have been difficult to carve...
ReplyDeleteSo do I. I also really like the way that he has caught the soaring movement of the birds. It's also interesting to see such a 'humble' material used to make public sculpture.
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