Norman Mommens (31 May 1922 – 8 February 2000) was a Belgian

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 ...

. Born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, his father was Flemish and his mother was English. He studied mural painting at Elkerlyc, the High School for Architecture and the Visual Arts, in Amsterdam.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and two years of forced labor during the German occupation of Belgium prevented him from continuing his studies. In 1948, he left Belgium for England.Remembering Norman and Patience
theitaliantranslator.wordpress.com. 8 April 2017. Accessed 17 January 2023. Mommens was married to the English potter Ursula Trevelyan (née Darwin), but divorced her. In 1963, he met the English author

Patience Gray Patience Jean Gray (31 October 1917 – 10 March 2005) was an English cookery and travel writer of the mid-20th century. Her two most popular books were ''Plats Du Jour'' (1957) – written with Primrose Boyd, about French cooking – and ''Honey Fr ...

(née Stanham), they moved to Greece and then Italy in 1970. They did not legally wed until 1994. Mommens and Gray both died in Presicce,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

References

External links

A film in memory of Norman Mommens and Patience Gray, 2008
dakhlavision1.wordpress.com. Accessed 17 January 2023. 1922 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Belgian sculptors Belgian people of English descent Belgian expatriates in Italy {{Belgium-sculptor-stub