Ruth Cribb

Research Degree Title

Eric Gill and transformative practices in the making of sculpture in Britain 1909 – 1940: contexts, networks and contradictions

Supervisors

Dr Catherine Moriarty
Dr Jon Wood (external supervisor, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds)

Aims of the investigation

This study will explore the perception of ‘direct carving’ as a concept as well as a sculptural practice through an exploration of the work and working practices of Eric Gill (1882 – 1940). It will examine the accepted view that the shift in modes of production led to an all-encompassing radical formal rift with traditional styles and techniques. It will review existing research and archival material relating to artists at this time, as well as the writings of artists, critics and art historians. This research will demonstrate that the contexts within which these shifts were made were far more complex than is usually understood.

Research Objectives

• Explore Eric Gill’s working practices, particularly as a sculptor, examine his approach to the extensive work in many different media, as well as looking at his influence.
• Establish the contexts in which sculpture was produced in the early twentieth century in Britain and the networks of artists, schools and movements working together.
• Critically examine the established histories and canons associated with British sculpture of this period, how they were constructed and for what purpose, as well as the implications for the artists and craftspeople who have been ‘excluded’ (including an examination of the process of the formation of canons, and the reasons behind subsequent ‘reassessments’), using Gill as an example, as both he and his contemporaries, as well as subsequent historians, described him as ‘an outsider’.
• Examine hierarchies involved in the production of sculpture and other works of art in terms of what ‘craft’ meant and what ‘art’ meant, and what this meant for the status of the sculptor and his assistants and patrons.
• Establish the expectations of the audience, the consumer, the critic and the historian in terms of sculptural production, theories of authenticity and how they came to be reflected in the status of each artist within the constructed histories.
  

Publications

• December 2007: ‘Eric Gill, Mankind and the making of sculpture in the twentieth century’ in The Burlington Magazine.
• Eric Gill and Ditchling: the Workshop Tradition (co-authored with Joe Cribb. Ditchling Museum, 2007).
• ‘Plaster models, plaster casts, electrotypes and fictile ivories’ in The Making of Sculpture: The Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture (co-authored with Diane Bilbey. V&A Publications, 2007).
• ‘Eric Gill at the Victoria & Albert Museum: New Sculpture Display’ in Antiques and Fine Art (7th Anniversary edition, January – February 2007, Volume VII, Issue 4).
  

Exhibitions

• ‘Eric Gill and Ditchling: the Workshop Tradition’, 9 June – 7 October, Ditchling Museum, Ditchling, Sussex.