ARTHUR FLEISCHMANN (1896-1990)
BUST OF KATHLEEN FERRIER, CIRCA 1954
£1,875
Auction: 18 April 2012 at 12:00 BST
Description
Terracotta, signed A. FLEISCHMANN
Dimensions
42cm high
Footnote
April 22nd 2012 is the centenary of the birth of the internationally renowned English contralto Kathleen Mary Ferrier (1912-1953). In 1946 Ferrier made her stage debut, in the Glyndebourne Festival premiere of Benjamin Britten's opera The Rape of Lucretia. A year later she made her first appearance as Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, a work with which she became particularly associated. By her own choice, these were her only two operatic roles. As her reputation grew, Ferrier formed close working relationships with major musical figures, including Britten, Sir John Barbirolli and Bruno Walter. She became known internationally through her three tours to the United States between 1948 and 1950 and her many visits to continental Europe. Tragically Ferrier died of cancer at the height of her fame in October 1953 at the age of 41.
Arthur John Fleischmann (1896-1990) trained in Prague, Budapest and Vienna and worked in France and Italy before travelling to Australia. He spent six months working in Bali in 1938 and arrived in Australia the following year. He was hailed as a modernist sculptor and exhibited in Sydney and Melbourne with Lyndon Dadswell and Daphne Mayo. Fleischmann left Australia in 1948 and settled in London where he became a Fellow of the RBS and exhibited widely. This bust of Ferrier was sculpted to commemorate her life and the bronze version was unveiled at a memorial concert at King George's Hall in her home town of Blackburn, Lancashire on October 8th 1954, a year after her death. It is now held at Blackburn Museum.