Sally Arnup (15 July 1930 – 22 December 2015) was an English sculptor known for her depictions of animals. Her studios were located at Holtby, a village near York.

Biography

Arnup was born in London and began studying at the

Kingston School of Art The Kingston School of Art (KSA) is an art school in Kingston upon Thames, part of Kingston University London. It was first established in 1899 as the Kingston School of Science and Art. In 1930 it was established as a separate school and has b ...

at the age of thirteen. She later studied at

Camberwell College of Arts Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgrad ...

and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

where she was taught by both

Frank Dobson Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British Labour Party politician. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 t ...

and

John Skeaping John Rattenbury Skeaping, RA (9 June 1901 – 5 March 1980) was an English sculptor and equine painter and sculptor. He designed animal figures for Wedgwood, and his life-size statue of Secretariat is exhibited at the National Museum of R ...

. In 1955 she won 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 ...

Feodora Gleichen Lady Feodora Georgina Maud Gleichen (20 December 1861 London – 22 February 1922 London) was a British sculptor of figures and portrait busts and designer of decorative objects. Background Born Countess Feodora Georgina Maud von Gleichen, ...

Award for women artists. From 1958 to 1972 Arnup was the Head of Sculpture at York College of Art. Her husband Mick Arnup also taught art at the college. Both Sally Arnup and her husband retired from teaching in 1974 to focus on their artistic careers.

Artworks

Arnup's speciality as an artist was for bronze animal sculptures, often created with the live animal present. Among Arnup's most notable commissions was a work for the Duke of Edinburgh’s 80th Birthday, depicting his Fell Pony ''Storm''. In 1971 she cast a silver leopard which was presented to HM Queen Elizabeth II by the City of York. A life-sized sculpture of an Irish Wolfhound by Arnup was posthumously donated to the

York Art Gallery York Art Gallery is a public art gallery in York, England, with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics. It closed for major redevelopment in 2013, reopening in summer of 2015. T ...

in 2017. She regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, with the Royal Society of British Artists, with the Royal Scottish Academy and at the Paris Salon. In 1968 the University of York hosted a solo exhibition of her work as did Gainsborough House in Suffolk during 1998. The Arnup Studio where both Sally and Mick Arnup worked, was opened to the public in 2011 as part of York Open Studios.

Death

In 2015 at the age of 85, Arnup suffered a stroke while modelling a horse for a large scale sculpture at stables near

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological ...

. She later died in

York Hospital York Hospital is a National Health Service teaching hospital in York, England. It is managed by the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, an NHS foundation trust which also runs several other hospitals in North Yorkshire ...

from septicaemia.

Works in collections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnup, Sally 1930 births 2015 deaths 20th-century English sculptors 21st-century English sculptors 20th-century English women artists 21st-century English women artists Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts Alumni of Kingston University Alumni of the Royal College of Art English women sculptors Sculptors from London