Co-hosted by the Public Statues and Sculpture Association and the Scottish Society for Art History
Following the trauma of the Second World War, the post-war period was a time of change, innovation and creativity that saw the emergence of new movements, art forms and new ideas about the role of the artist in society. The establishment of the Arts Council of Great Britain saw public funding for art on a greater scale than ever before. New Towns were built to replace bomb-damaged housing and tackle housing problems. Public artworks were commissioned for new public buildings and civic spaces as symbols of culture-led regeneration. Installations, and exhibitions such as ‘Enterprise Scotland’ (1947) and the ‘Festival of Britain’ (1951), played an important role in bringing sculpture to a wider audience and creating spaces for experience and exchange.
Webinar Programme
11.00-11.05 Welcome by Claire Robinson, Chair, Scottish Society for Art History
11.05-11.25 Keynote presentation: Andrew Demetrius, University of St Andrews
Walls and Bridges, Concrete and Collaboration: aspects of public sculpture in Scotland’s New Towns
11.25-11.35 Discussion
11.35-11.50 Break
Session 1 Chair: Joanna Barnes, Co-Chair, Public Statues and Sculpture Association
11.50-12.00 Dr Sarah Crellin
‘Performing sculpture’s proper function’? Trafalgar Square and Battersea Park 1948
12.00-12.10 Katharine Eustace FSA
Both early and late: Hew Lorimer’s Nisi Dominus Frustra, Westfield Court, Gorgie, an example of architectural sculpture in post-war public housing
12.10-12.20 Dominique Fleischmann
Arthur Fleischmann (1896 – 1990): A career described through the prism of World Festivals and illustrated with images
12.20-12.35 Panel discussion
12.35-13.00 Break
Session 2 Chair: Dr Holly Trusted FSA, Co-Chair, Public Statues and Sculpture Association
13.00-13.10 Matthew Jarron, University of Dundee
Labor Vincit – The Work and Influence of Scott Sutherland RSA
13.10-13.20 Nicholas Smith
The Florence of Essex – Harlow Revisited
13.20-13.30 Professor Pauline Rose
An ambiguous memorial: Henry Moore’s Nuclear Energy (1966-67)
13.30-13.40 Rebecca Farley, Newcastle University
Swapping the forest for the streets: the emergence of an ‘Urban Grizedale’
13.40-13.55 Panel discussion
14.00 End