Kathleen Ophir Theodora Parbury (23 August 1901–1986) was a British artist and sculptor, known for the large sculptures she created for British churches and internationally. She was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of British Sculptors The Royal Society of Sculptors is a British charity established in 1905 which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London. It ...

in 1966.

Biography

Parbury was born at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire and, between 1920 and 1924, studied at 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 where her teachers included the sculptor James Havard Thomas. Parbury went on produce portrait works and figures, mainly working in bronze, but also other materials. Among her portrait sculptures are figures of Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer, Sir

Vivian Fuchs Sir Vivian Ernest Fuchs ( ; 11 February 1908 – 11 November 1999) was an English scientist-explorer and expedition organizer. He led the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition which reached the South Pole overland in 1958. Biography Fuchs ...

and Dame

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her ...

. Parbury created a number of large sculptures for British churches. Her largest work was a sculpture group of several figures, ''The Risen Christ'', for an exterior wall of the church of St Michael and All Angels at

Bemerton Bemerton, once a rural hamlet and later a civil parish to the west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, is now a suburb of that city. Modern-day Bemerton has areas known as Bemerton Heath, Bemerton Village and Lower Bemerton. History In 1086, the ...

in Wiltshire. The work consists of a Christ figure with two angels and symbols representing the choir of angels. In 1958, Parbury produced an eight foot ''Madonna and Child'' for St Mary's in West Twyford in London and the following year created four sculptures of angels for St Columba's Church in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

. Her 1961 large figure of Saint Aidan is on the facade of the Church of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne in

East Acton East Acton is an area in Acton in London, England, west of Charing Cross. It is partly in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and partly in the London Borough of Ealing. It is served by East Acton Underground station, on the Central ...

. Parbury also created a concrete statue of Aidan for the island of

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

in 1958. Other examples of her work are in churches in Canada, Ireland and Nigeria and in museums in New Zealand and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Throughout her career, Parbury exhibited with the

and was elected a Fellow of that body in 1966. She also exhibited with the Society of Women Artists and the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

. With

Josefina de Vasconcellos Josefina Alys Hermes de Vasconcellos (26 October 1904 – 20 July 2005) was an English sculptor who worked in bronze, stone, wood, lead and perspex. She was at one time the world's oldest living sculptor. She lived in Cumbria much of her wor ...

, Parbury organised an exhibition of Christian art, ''The Gospel in Sculpture'', at St John's Wood in London during 1955. Parbury also wrote a book on the Lindisfarne saints. For many years Parbury lived on Lindisfarne, having previously lived in London and Edinburgh.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parbury, Kathleen 1901 births 1986 deaths 20th-century British sculptors 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art English women sculptors People from Borehamwood