Charles Sansbury
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Charles Sansbury (1916 – 1989) was a respected sculptor and artisit based in the North-East of England.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Education
Sansbury was born in Watford in 1916, and by the time he was in his teens, painting was already an important part of his life.
In 1943, under the Emergency Teacher scheme, he trained as an Art and Craft Teacher at Shoreditch Training College and taught in schools for fourteen years.
In 1957 he was granted leave of absence from Bedlington Grammar School and went to Kings College, Durham to read for a B.A. in Fine Art. Here he came under the influence of Victor Pasmore, who was then Master of Painting.
Following a year of general art studies he concentrated on sculpture and began to work in metal. He learnt to weld and Swinneys Engineering Works in Morpeth, in order to make an armature for a large clay figure. While working there he found inspiration in the scrap metal bins. He became fascinated with assembling such material into new and evocative forms. He found that his pieces of sculpture grew in unpredicatable ways: some were variations on others, and some started simply from an enthusiasm for the shape of a piece of discarded metal. As his technique improved he began to cut and form his own shapes and was thus able to dictate to the material.
[edit] Professional Work
After he finished his degree he became a lecturer at Lincoln Diocesan Training College, now known as Bishop Grosseteste College, and while he was there designed the gates for the main entrance to the College. He also began work on a commission from Newcastle City Council for 480 miniature metal sculptures for the lift doors of the new Civic Centre. The design of each piece was unique.
In 1964 he moved back to the North of England to work at Northumberland College of Education in Ponteland. He moved to Allendale where he had a large workshop at the back of his home.
In 1965 he was again commissioned by Newcastle City Council, this time to make seven rise and fall portcullis screens, 170ft (51.8m) long and weighing 55 tons (56 tonne) and later, to make a series of gas flambeaux for the main entrance area.
These commissions were followed by others in various parts of the country, but as well as doing his own work he wanted to create work for local people. For several years he ran a small workshop, 'Mithras' in his studio as well as a craft shop next door. Many of the small mild steel pieces made in the workshop were sold in the shop. His own, domestic sized sculptures were bought by people from many parts of the country.
He exhibited in various galleries including; Lincoln Theatre Royal, the Moot Hall in Hexham, the Caloustie Gulbenkian Gallery in Newcastle as well as the Art Galleries at Middlesborough and Billingham.
Two attacks of pneumonia in the early 1970s curtailed his own work in metal, but his larger commissions continued to be made at Swinneys in Morpeth.
He had always maintained an interest in painting, both in oil, and to a lesser extent in watercolour. In the 1980s he was able to visit Italy for some weeks each summer and here here he began to work more and more in watercolour, drawing his inspiration from the Italian landscape.
A severe heart attack in 1985 put an end to his work as a metal sculptor, but until the end of his life in 1989 he continued to paint, draw and make small pieces in clay.
[edit] Selected Works
- Portculis Screens - Newcastle Civic Centre (1965)
- Locomotive - Stephenson Shopping Centre (1971)
[edit] Quotations
Some memorable quotations about Charles Sansbury.
- "Although I am interested in and aware of most of the latest developments in conteporary sculpture, I am.....content to stand apert and endeavour to exploit the aesthetic potential of welded mild steel, whilst using imageary that comes most naturally to me. Sculptural forms are made in iron by bending, planishing and forging. In addition, forms can be built up during the actual process of welding and a combination of these techniques results in one that is both direct and satisfying. It is, however, difficult,....the mastery of the technical problems of welding sometimes precludes the success of a sculptural idea. In most constructivism the process of welding is used purley as a means of joining one piece of metal to another. This is entirely acceptable, but, to me, the marks left by the welding torch on iron are as personal as those left by the modelling tool and spatula on clay or plaster....If the texture is the direct product of a sculptural process, it becomes an itegral part of tha sculpture, enhancing it and itentifying it with the hands that made it" — Charles Sansbury (1967)
- "His work displays a lucid exploration of the challenges and opportunities offered by metal and welding with such skill and conviction that his pieces are as enjoyable, stimulating and instructive as they were when first constructed. Some pieces use the flame of the welding torch 'as a brush' exploring changing surfaces and patterns, focussing attention in and around the various planes of the work" — Mary Telford
- "I first met Charles through a Hexham Moot Hall exhibition in 1969. He had a warm and generous nature, a genuine interestr in the work of others, and was always ready to give help and encouragement. He showed great imagination and inventiveness in the way that he used his media, but was modest and self depreciating. To know his work, and to have known him, was an enriching experience." — Birtley Aris
