"I started making sculpture when all of use start making sculpture – as a child – with cardboard, paper and glue. I guess the difference is that I never stopped." ~ Angela Conner

Angela Conner's long-standing career in art, despite no formal education, is a testament to her instinctive passion and determination. Her childhood was notably affected by her stepfather George Ivan-Smith’s role as the United Nations Director of External Relations. This role necessitated extensive travel and relocations, resulting in Conner attending fourteen different schools between the ages of 8 and 16. This early and frequent exposure to diverse political environments and human rights issues sparked a deep interest in Conner, fostering a desire to broaden her understanding of various cultures.

Conner sold her first work of art when she was just eight years old. This enthusiasm to explore all possibilities of becoming an artist never faltered, even when she took a part-time job working for the UN in New York, following in her stepfather’s footsteps. Conner would find an empty office out of hours where she produced a series depicting the mirrored reflections of the East River and jewel-lit skies (Lot 16-19). Conner’s series of sketches made of delegates at the UN congress illustrate her ability to record events whilst capturing personalities under pressure (Lot 35), a skill which continued into her understanding of sculpture and her ability to capture people in clay. One of the most important public sculptures Angela created is Twelve Responses to Tragedy (or The Yalta Memorial) (Lot 29) currently on display in Cromwell Gardens, opposite the V&A museum.

"As a child I was always observing nature, wind and water and seeing how movement from these natural forces could be involved with many shapes." ~ Angela Conner

Angela Conner's artistic development was significantly influenced by her step-father's connections, particularly with UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld, an avid collector of Barbara Hepworth's work. Through Hammarskjöld and Marcus Brumwell, a supporter of the arts, Conner was introduced to Hepworth and undertook an apprenticeship at her studio in St. Ives. On Angela’s first day, she was given a large boulder and some tools, with no instructions, Hepworth wanted her to explore her creativity and instincts freely. Initially hesitant, Conner took a couple of days to make her first mark, but she eventually found confidence and the experience became highly rewarding.

Hepworth's distinctive approach to carved forms, inspired by the windswept Cornish landscape and executed in stone, slate, and marble, left a lasting impact on Conner. Both artists shared the same beliefs in the importance of nature and exploration of tensions between man and earth and yet achieving feats of engineering that still illustrate pure calm and meditativeness. This influence was crucial as Conner developed her own unique style, particularly evident in Revelation (1999), The Big Tipper (1970s), Rolling Stones (Lot 47) and Five o’Clock Shadow (1978) (Lot 49). In 1963, Conner and Hepworth collaborated on "Single Form", a piece created for the United Nations Plaza in New York, dedicated to the memory of Dag Hammarskjöld.

"You certainly have to get to know them; there’s no question. You have to peel off the layers." ~ Angela Conner Interview, 2000

The relationship between artist and sitter has always been very important for Angela. She felt that her best work was a form of portrait and not a work of sculpture. Angela believed that getting to know your subject was integral to being able to capture the true character of the person in clay. One of the first busts Conner modelled was Roy Strong, Director of the National Portrait Gallery in 1969. The bust was purchased by Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire in 1971.

Angela Conner and Andrew Cavendish, the 11th Duke of Devonshire, became close friends after being introduced by Angela Conner's brother-in-law and playwright, John Osborne. From that first meeting, he was a keen collector of her work, at one point owning over forty of her sculptures, including busts of prominent British politicians, royalty, writers, and celebrities, as well as larger garden sculptures. Andrew Cavendish became one of Angela’s most important patrons and her sculptures can be viewed in the grounds at Chatsworth. Other important commissions include the bust of Elizabeth II (Lot 4) commissioned by the Knights of the Garter in celebration of the Queen's eightieth birthday in 2006, and a very rare sitting with Lucien Freud (Lot 14).

Angela, drawn to monumental sculpture, was also commissioned to create some of Britian’s most notable public sculptures including Laurence Olivier, as Macbeth outside The National Theatre, Noel Coward resting on the balcony of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the life-size sculpture of Charles de Gaulle at Carlton Gardens, St. James’.

"This unique combination of great strength and extreme delicacy, of powerful energy and exquisite poise that her sculptures capture." ~ Rachel Campbell-Johnston

Angela Conner’s experimentation with large-scale outdoor sculpture tests the boundaries of balance. Drue Heinz, after visiting Conner’s studio commissioned a sculpture titled Quartet for the place outside the Pittsburgh Symphony Hall. This was to be Conner’s first kinetic piece with four components, just like the musicians in an orchestra, which directed the flow of water from one to the other. Janus, another water mobile sculpture designed in stainless steel was commissioned for Lord Bath’s Longleat, a feat of engineering which features two arcs which lift upwards like a moveable bridge to suit the design brief which specified that the piece must be big enough to let a double decker bus pass. In 2001 Hogan Lovells commissioned Libra, an oscillating needle standing 94 feet high which shifts with the weight of the water to represent the scales of justice, a permanent feature in their London offices.

Playing with the equilibrium is integral to Conner’s work, whether it be purposeful through the pumping of water as shown in Chiasma (Lot 42) or conducted naturally by the wind, most notably in Genesis (Lot 46) and Counterpoise (Lot 43). The works hold a hypnotic quality which mesmerises the viewer as the works move slowly, repetitively and in response to nature.

To Conner the emotions conjured by her sculptures was the most important aspect of her work. Helen Dempsey in her thesis Believing in Our Age describes Conner’s approach, "She is preoccupied with awakening emotions within us that we have come to neglect through passive over exposure to a shocking or surprising flow of images in the media." Conner on reading this thesis felt that this sentence, in particular, encapsulated the theory behind her work. Conner strove to create pieces that encouraged active engagement from the public whether that be the textures, energy and movement of her large-scale sculptures or the character and essence of a sitter, which reveals a layer of questioning and meaning to the bust.

"One of the reasons I love riding is that I love the way a pair of fine reins can control the movement of a massive form." ~ Angela Conner

Angela Conner resides with her husband, renowned photographer John Bulmer, at their home in Monnington on Wye. Angela enjoyed spending time in her Notting Hill studio, where she loved to host parties surrounded by her working sculptures. However, she also cherished returning to the countryside to explore the landscape at Monnington. From early on in their relationship Angela and John both shared a love of horses. By the late 1970s, they had established a stud farm at their home, Monnington Court, which has grown into one of the most significant breeding centers for Morgan horses.

Angela has served as the president of the British Morgan Horse Society and continues to ride daily, while John competes in carriage driving. This shared equestrian passion has been a central aspect of their life together, blending their artistic and professional pursuits with their love for the countryside and horses.

View Page Turning Catalogue

Auction Details

Thursday 11 July, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

Browse the auction
Sign up to email alerts

VIEWING:

• Viewing in London (highlights)
  • Monday 24 June: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 25 June: 10am-4pm
  • Wednesday 26 June: 10am-4pm
• Viewing in Newbury (full sale)
  • Saturday 6 July: 10am-3pm
  • Sunday 7 July: 10am-3pm
  • Monday 8 July: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 9 July: 9am-4pm
  • Wednesday 10 July: 9am-4pm
  • Thursday 11 July: 9am-12 noon
• Remote Viewing Service | Available from Saturday 6 July
• Dreweatts 360 Virtual Auction Tour | Available from Saturday 6 July