Anne-Katrin Purkiss is a photographer, born in

Karl-Marx-Stadt Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 28th largest city of Germany as ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1959 and moving to Britain in 1984 after graduating from

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

in 1983. Her father Joachim Seyffarth (1928-2014) was a German curator of monuments and photographer. Her Sculptors project documented sculptors in their working environment and includes portraits of

Dame Elisabeth Frink Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' obituary noted the three essential themes in her work as "the nature of Man; the 'horseness' of horses; and the divine in ...

Kenneth Armitage William Kenneth Armitage (18 July 1916 – 22 January 2002) was a British sculptor known for his semi-abstract bronzes. Life Armitage was born in Leeds on July 18, 1916, the youngest of three children studied at the Leeds College of Art and th ...

Andy Goldsworthy Andy Goldsworthy (born 26 July 1956) is an English sculptor, photographer, and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban settings. Early life Goldsworthy was born in Cheshire on 26 J ...

Sir Anthony Caro Sir Anthony Alfred Caro (8 March 192423 October 2013) was an English abstract sculptor whose work is characterised by assemblages of metal using ' found' industrial objects. His style was of the modernist school, having worked with Henry Moo ...

and

Lynn Chadwick Lynn Russell Chadwick, (24 November 1914 – 25 April 2003) was an English sculptor and artist. Much of his work is semi-abstract sculpture in bronze or steel. His work is in the collections of MoMA in New York, the Tate in London and th ...

. A collection of her portraits of British scientists is held by the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and was shown in part in a display at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

including portraits of Sir Alec Jeffreys,

Lord Darzi Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

Sir Martin Evans Sir Martin John Evans (born 1 January 1941) is an English biologist who, with Matthew Kaufman, was the first to culture mice embryonic stem cells and cultivate them in a laboratory in 1981. He is also known, along with Mario Capecchi and Oliv ...

, Sir Tim Hunt and Dame Louise Johnson. She compiled photographic records of the restoration of the

Watts Gallery Watts Gallery – Artists' Village is an art gallery in the village of Compton, near Guildford in Surrey. It is dedicated to the work of the Victorian-era painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts. The gallery has been Grade II* listed on th ...

in Compton, Surrey, between 2008 and 2011, J.M.W. Turner’s House

Sandycombe Lodge Sandycombe Lodge is a Grade II* listed house at 40 Sandycoombe Road, Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In the picturesque-cottage style, it was designed and built in 1813 by the artist J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) as hi ...

in Twickenham, London, from 2016 to 2017 and

Gainsborough's House Gainsborough's House is the birthplace of the leading English painter Thomas Gainsborough. It is now a museum and gallery, located at 46 Gainsborough Street in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. Some of the pictures on display have been acquired with ...

in Sudbury, Suffolk, from 2014 to 2022. Her early work includes a large number of photographs of her childhood and youth in the GDR (East Germany) which is catalogued in the

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

(German National Library). She works primarily in black-and-white, using

available light In photography and cinematography, available light (also called ambient light or practical light) refers to any ''available'' source of light that is not explicitly supplied by the photographer for the purpose of taking pictures. The term usu ...

and

Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Swedish manufacturer of medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist- ...

Works in public collections

There are over 100 photographic portraits by Purkiss in the National Portrait Gallery collection including portraits of

Denis Thatcher Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, (10 May 1915 – 26 June 2003) was an English businessman and the husband of Margaret Thatcher, who served as the first female British prime minister from 1979 to 1990; in turn, he became the first male prime m ...

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

and

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

. Her work is also held in the collections of the Library of the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

, the

, London, the

Henry Moore Institute Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, Leeds, the

New Hall Art Collection The Women's Art Collection (before 2022, the New Hall Art Collection) is a permanent collection of modern and contemporary art by women artists, at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge (previously New Hall), England. It includes over 600 works b ...

, University of Cambridge, the Ingram Collection, in the archive of

TATE Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, the National Art Library and the library of Yale Centre for British Art.

Publications

''Local Faces'' (2001) Orleans House Gallery (with introductions by

Bamber Gascoigne Arthur Bamber Gascoigne (24 January 1935 – 8 February 2022) was an English television presenter and author. He was the original quizmaster on ''University Challenge'', which initially ran from 1962 to 1987. Early life and education Gasco ...

and Terence Pepper)
''Sculptors 1986-2007'' (2007) Orleans House Gallery (with an introduction by Victoria Worsley,

)
''Images of the GDR'' akg-images (Berlin–London–Paris) (2009)
''Scientists 1985-2010'' (2010)
''Artists at Home and at Work'' (2015) The Gainsborough's House Society
''Faces of the South Downs - Portraits of a Landscape'' (2015) Miriquidi Books
''Sculptors 1986-2016'' (2017) Miriquidi Books ; foreword by

Peter Murray (Yorkshire Sculpture Park) Sir Peter Edward Murray is the founder and executive director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, now a sculpture venue with an international reputation. Biography He studied Fine Art and Education, teaching in General, Further and Higher Education. ...

and Adrian Glew, archivist at

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

''Anthony Eyton - Studio pictures'' (2017) Miriquidi Books
''Creative Connections – Portraits of Women Scientists and Artists'' (2019), Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge
''Sculptors at Work'' (2021) F.E.McWilliam Gallery & Studio
''Gainsborough’s House – Reviving an Artist’s Birthplace'' (2023) Gainsborough’s House Society

Illustrations to publications

* ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (current edition) * ''Poland – European Tiger'', Euromoney Books 1993 * ''Finland – A Coming of Age'', Euromoney Books, 1996 * ''The lost Palace of Whitehall'',

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

, 1998 * ''Postman's Park: G. F. Watts's Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice'' Watts Gallery, 2008 * ''Watts Chapel: A Guide to the Symbols of Mary Watts's Arts and Crafts Masterpiece'', Philip Wilson Publishers, 2010, * ''An Artists’ Village'', Philip Wilson Publishers, 2011, * ''Paolo Cavinato – Constellation'', Royal British Society of Sculptors, 2011 * ''SKULPTUR'', Hatje Cantz, 2015 * ''Secrets of the High Woods'', South Downs National Park Authority, 2016 * ''Sculpture Shock - Site-specific interventions'', Black Dog Publishing, 2016 * ''J.M.W. Turner’s House - The conservation of Sandycombe Lodge in Twickenham'', 2016/17, Turner’s House Trust, 2017 * ''

John Hitchens John Hitchens (born 1940) is an English painter. His work is influenced by the landscape of the South Downs and his main subject area is the countryside of West Sussex, England. He also spent extended periods working in North Wales and North West ...

- Aspects of Landscape'', Sansom & Company, Bristol 2020 * '' Diana Armfield: A Lyrical Eye'', Paul Holberton Publishing 2021 * ''CONVERGENCE – Paintings by

'', Felix & Spear, London, 2022

Portraits of Purkiss

The National Portrait Gallery collection has a 1994 print of Purkiss by Alan Symes.

References

External links

Homepage of Anne-Katrin Purkiss photography website2021 Online exhibition on Google Arts
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Purkiss, Anne-Katrin German women photographers East German photographers East German women 1959 births Living people People from Chemnitz Photographers from Saxony 21st-century German photographers German emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century women photographers 21st-century women photographers 20th-century German women 21st-century German women