William Kenneth Armitage (18 July 1916 – 22 January 2002) was a British

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

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 Leeds Arts University is a specialist arts further and higher education institution, based in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a main campus opposite the University of Leeds. History It was founded in 1846 as the Leeds Scho ...

and the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London before joining the British Army (

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

) in 1939. In 1940 he married Joan Moore, another sculptor. They separated in the 1950s but never divorced. They had no children. After leaving the army, Armitage became head of the sculpture department at the

Bath Academy of Art Bath School of Art and Design is an art college in Bath, England, now known separately as Bath School of Art and Bath School of Design. It forms part of the Bath Spa University whose main campus is located a few miles from the City at Newton P ...

in 1946. In 1952, he held his first one-man show in London. In 1953, he became Great Britain's first university artist in residence, at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

(to 1956). In 1958, he won best international sculpture under age 45 at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. Armitage was made

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1969 and was elected to the

Royal Academy 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 pur ...

in 1994. In 2001, his sculpture "Both Arms" was erected along with a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

in Millennium Square, Leeds, being unveiled by Nelson Mandela. His 2001 sculpture "Legs walking" was erected in

City Square, Leeds City Square is a paved area north of Leeds railway station at the junction of Park Row to the east and Wellington Street to the south. It is a triangular area where six roads meet: Infirmary Street and Park Row to the north, Boar Lane and Bish ...

outside

Mill Hill Chapel Mill Hill Chapel is a Unitarian church in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. The building, which stands in the centr ...

in 2018. He died 22 January 2002.

Work

Armitage's striking mature style was evident as early as 1952. Most of his works are recognizably human, but are sometimes joined with the forms of animals or furniture. Many displayed quirky humor. Armitage was also interested in ancient

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

and

Cycladic art The ancient Cycladic culture flourished in the islands of the Aegean Sea from c. 3300 to 1100 BCE. Along with the Minoan civilization and Mycenaean Greece, the Cycladic people are counted among the three major Aegean cultures. Cycladic art there ...

and his works have an archaic flavour. He was featured in the 1964 documentary film "5 British Sculptors (Work and Talk)" by American filmmaker

Warren Forma Warren Forma (November 27, 1923 - March 26, 2014) was an American filmmaker and author, best known for his "Artists at Work" documentary film series and book on European and American painters and sculptors in the 1960s and 1970s, his 1973 novel '' ...

. During the 1960s and beyond, Armitage adapted to the styles of the times, sometimes incorporating plastic or spray paint. File:Kenneth armitage, persone nel vento, 1950.jpg, ''People in the Wind'' (1950) Exhibited at Venice Biennale in 1952 File:Marl Armitage 01.JPG, ''Sitting People'' (1952), Marl, Germany File:Duisburg SLM Armitage 01.JPG, ''The Prophet'' (1961),

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

, Germany File:KMM Armitage 01.JPG, ''Monitor'' (1961),

Otterlo Otterlo is a village in the municipality of Ede of province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, in or near the Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe. The Kröller-Müller Museum, named after Helene Kröller-Müller, is situated nearby and has the world's ...

The Netherlands File:Both Arms Armitage 2010.jpg, ''Both Arms'' (2001)

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, UK File:Legs Walking 24 May 2018 01.jpg, ''Legs Walking 2001'' (2001)

, UK

Exhibition

* 1960: ''Kenneth Armitage -

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 the ...

'', Kestner-Gesellschaft,

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

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 ...

* 1963: ''Kenneth Armitage - Galerie Charles Lienhard'', Zurich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

References

"Armitage, Kenneth"
''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

, 2008, Encyclopædia Britannica Online. November 26, 2008. * Ratcliff, Carter. "Armitage, Kenneth", ''

Academic American Encyclopedia ''Academic American Encyclopedia'' is a 21-volume general English-language encyclopedia published in 1980. It was first produced by Arête Publishing, the American subsidiary of the Dutch publishing company VNU'' Kister's Best Encyclopedias'', 199 ...

, 1991 edition, volume 2, pp. 173–174. * Schmalenbach, Werner: Catalogue covering the exhibition of 1960 at Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover (in German).

External links

* *
Works at the Tate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armitage, Kenneth 1916 births 2002 deaths Geometry of Fear Alumni of Leeds Arts University Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art 20th-century British sculptors British male sculptors Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Academicians Leeds Blue Plaques British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery soldiers 20th-century British male artists