Biography
Born: 28 November 1924, Darley Dale, Derbyshire, UK
Elected ARA: 24 April 1970
Elected RA: 9 December 1975
Category of Membership: Sculptor
Geoffrey
Clarke studied at Preston School of Art from 1940 to 1941 and
at Manchester School of Art from 1941 to 1942 before serving
in the War with the RAF. He returned to his studying at Lancaster
and Morecambe School of Arts and Crafts from 1947 to 1948, before
attending the Royal College of Art in 1948, where he remained
until 1952. In 1951 he was awarded a Royal College Travelling
Scholarship and also received the silver medal at the Milan
Triennale for a collaboration with Robin Day, the furniture
designer. He returned to the Royal College from 1968 to 1973,
where he was Head of Light Transmission and Projection Department.
Clarke’s
first one-man show was held at Gimpel Fils Gallery, London,
in 1952, the same year in which his work was included in the
Venice Biennale. In 1965 he had a retrospective at the Redfern
Gallery, London and his work was included in 'British Sculpture'
in the 1960s exhibition at the Tate Gallery. Similarly, he was
selected for 'British Sculptors ‘72’, at the Royal
Academy of Arts and for 'British Sculpture in the Twentieth
Century', at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1981. Most of Clarke’s
work is commission-based, cast in a foundry in a barn at his
home in Suffolk.
Major
Commissions
1952 Iron Sculpture
for Time-Life Building, Bond Street
1952-56 Nave windows for Coventry Cathedral
1958 Silver cross and candlesticks for Worshipful Company of
Goldsmiths
Bronze sculpture 23.5m high for Thorn House, Upper St Martin’s
Lane
Tapestry 6 x 3m for Palace, Kuwait
1959 Relief measuring 93m2 Extraction and Refining of Oil for
Castrol House, Marylebone Road
1960 Four stained glass windows for Treasury, Lincoln Cathedral
1961 Open-cast reliefs for the liners Canberra and Oriana
Stained glass window and aluminium relief for Civic College,
Ipswich
Free-standing sculpture for Sir Basil Spence’s house at
Beaulieu
1962 Consecration of Coventry Cathedral (Clarke had made three
of the nave windows, High Altar Cross and Candlesticks, Cross
and candlesticks for the Undercroft, Crown of Thorns and Flying
Cross).
Altar Rail and Candlesticks for Chichester Cathedral
Sculpture for Bishop Otter College, Chichester
Steel and aluminium sculpture for Physics Department, Newcastle
University
1967 Two large sculptures, Triunii and Uniforge for the Federal
Land Bank, St Paul, Minnesota
1973 Medals commissioned by the Department of the Environment
on the theme ‘Plant a tree in ’73’ as prizes
for schools involved in the planting project
1976 Font and altar for All Souls Church, Langham Place, London
1982 Stained glass panels for Majlis in Abu Dhabi
Torigenus sculpture for York House, Pentonville Road, London
1985-86 Medal entitled Pyramus and Thisbe commissioned by the
British Medal Society.
Recent
Exhibitions
2000 Fine Art
Society, London (Retrospective 1949-2000)
Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths of London
1999 Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and tour
Jesus College, Cambridge
1994/95 Christchurch Mansion, Ispwich and tour (solo exhibition)
1994 Royal Academy of Arts, Friends’ Room (solo exhibition)
Gravelines, Musée du Dessin et de l’Estampe Originale
1990 Bar Convent, York
British Museum, London
Public
Collections
Arts Council
of Great Britain
Tate Gallery, London
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
