The sculpture of Frank Dobson

by Neville Jason

This is the first comprehensive overview of the life and work of pioneering British sculptor Frank Dobson (1886-1963). In the 1920s and 1930s Dobson was an important member of the British avant garde, and with Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Jacob Epstein, he represented to Britain and the world what was best and most advanced in British sculpture. Yet with the rise of a younger generation of sculptors led by Henry Moore, Dobson's reputation as an artist languished and his art became seen as 'dated'. The exhibition True and Pure Sculpture, held at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge in 1981, succeeded in introducing Dobson's work to many not previously acquainted with it, and extending the knowledge of those who were. The Sculpture of Frank Dobson catalogues and illustrates over two hundred pieces of sculpture, and includes sixteen large-format colour plates. An illustrated survey of Dobson's life places his career in the context of the development of the Modern Movement in Britain.