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Denis Mitchell

St. Eval
1984
bronze on slate base
10¾ x 3½ x 3½ ins (26.9 x 8.9 x 8.9 cms)

Initialled, dated '84

Inscribed and numbered 6/7

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From the late 1940s, the sculptor Denis Mitchell (1912 - 1993) was central to the group of St Ives Modernists artists. Renowned for his dynamic polished bronzes, Mitchell evolved a visual language that was inspired by his intimate knowledge of working in and on the landscape.

In 1930 Mitchell moved from Swansea to the Cornish artistic colony to start market gardening and to paint. But his experiences of tin mining during the war and his tenure as chief assistant to Barbara Hepworth between 1949-59 soon inspired him to carve with forms often reminiscent of the miners' and fishermen's tools with which he was well acquainted. Mitchell is a significant figure in the development of art in post-war St Ives; he was a founder member of the Penwith Society, Working initially with wood, slate and stone, Mitchell eventually found his own forms in sand-cast bronze. Through this he would become significant in the development of post-foundry hand-finishing of bronze sculptures. His bronzes were generally sand-cast and when finished often had a brilliant, shiny golden patina, which he sometimes combined with other contrasting finishes such as deep greens that might be pitted rather than smooth; these were used to 'highlight' certain aspects of the sculpture's form. As with many of his sculptures Mitchell titled 'St Eval' with a Cornish place name, in this case a small hamlet between Padstow and Newquay.

Exhibited:

Newlyn Art Gallery, 1985, Catalogue No 31

Denis Mitchell, Sculpture and Drawings

1 - 27th November 1985

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