Alan Lydiat Durst (1883–1970) was a British sculptor and wood carver and member of the

London Group The London Group is a society based in London, England, created to offer additional exhibiting opportunities to artists besides the Royal Academy of Arts. Formed in 1913, it is one of the oldest artist-led organisations in the world. It was form ...

of artists. Three of Durst's work are held in the permanent collection of

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 ...

Personal life

Alan Durst was born at the rectory in

Alverstoke Alverstoke is a small settlement which forms part of the borough of Gosport, on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It stretches east–west from Fort Blockhouse, Haslar to Browndown Battery, and is centred east of the shore of Stokes Bay and ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 27 June 1883. He was the son of William Durst who was the Rector of Alverstoke. He married Elizabeth Clare Amy Barlow on 11 December 1918. Durst died on 22 December 1970 and his funeral took place on Tuesday 29 December 1970 at Golders Green Crematorium.

Education

He was educated at Marlborough College and in Switzerland.File TGA 729 at the Tate Archives in London. Personal Papers of Alan Durst. Retrieved 20 August 2012. In 1913 he enrolled at the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

(LCC)

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

As part of his studies Durst visited Chartres in early 1914. He went in fact to study stained glass windows but in his private papers held at Tate Britain Archive he explained that he was so taken with the magnificence of the statuary of Chartres Cathedral that he determined to pursue sculpture as a career. As Durst puts it, seeing the Chartres statues “opened a door for me”.

Military service

Durst served in the

Royal Marine Light Infantry The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achi ...

, first joining as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in 1901. Details of this service are shown in record ADM/196/63 held at The National Archive. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 1 July 1902, and served until 1913 when he was placed on the "Retired List" and began his studies at the School of Art.''Naval Record: Durst, Alan Lydiat.''
The National Archives/Documents online. Access Military Records. Retrieved 19 August 2012. He returned to the Royal Marines in July 1914 and served from 1914 to 1919. In his private papers held at Tate Britain Archive Durst writes that he would often while away the time in his cabin when at sea by executing small carvings in ivory and in one of his photograph albums he features a Tea caddie with delicately carved ivory panels and adds the note "carved while at sea on active service-1918" He was also recalled during the 1939-1945 conflict and in April 1921 for emergency service necessitated by the Coal Strike.

Career

After leaving art school Durst became Curator of the

George Frederic Watts George Frederic Watts (23 February 1817, in London – 1 July 1904) was a British painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. He said "I paint ideas, not things." Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical work ...

Museum in Compton from 1919 to 1920. He left that museum to take up sculpture and wood carving on a full-time basis, and taught wood carving at 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 offe ...

from 1925 to 1940 and from 1945 to 1948. Durst had his first solo exhibition at the

Leicester Galleries Leicester Galleries was an art gallery located in London from 1902 to 1977 that held exhibitions of modern British, French and international artists' works. Its name was acquired in 1984 by Peter Nahum, who operates "Peter Nahum at the Leiceste ...

in London in 1930 and another in 1935. He was a regular exhibitor at 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 ...

. We learn from Durst's Tate Britain Archive papers that when Durst returned to his studies after the 1914-1918 war he was very much drawn to the concept of ''"Direct Carving"'' as advocated by

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produc ...

and

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

. He also states that he was an admirer of

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (né Gaudier; 4 October 1891 – 5 June 1915) was a French artist and sculptor who developed a rough-hewn, primitive style of direct carving. Biography Henri Gaudier was born in Saint-Jean-de-Braye near Orléans. In 1910, ...

the French sculptor killed in action in 1915.

George Pace George Gaze Pace, (31 December 1915 – 23 August 1975) was an English architect who specialised in ecclesiastical works. He was trained in London, and served in the army, before being appointed as surveyor to a number of cathedrals. M ...

, an English architect who worked with Dunst wrote of his philosophical approach towards sculpting:

In 1964 when he had finished carving seven statues for the upper part of Peterborough Cathedral he told me that in his early days when he wanted to learn “direct carving” he found that the art schools of the day could only teach him modelling; for it was still the fashion for sculptors to make models which were then translated into stone or marble by technicians using pointers and masons' skills. After World War 1 the more realistic approach to sculpture enabled him to learn the techniques of direct carving and this equipped him to devote the rest of his life to spirited direct carving in stone, wood and ivory. From the summer of 1914 his life ambition was to complete a series of statues carved in the spirit he had extracted from Chartres.

He was appointed a member of

The British School at Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture. History The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK Royal Charter in 1912. Its mission is " ...

in 1945 - Faculty of Sculpture.

Gallery

File:Dursty.jpg, Alan Durst at work. Image shown courtesy Ashley Basil. File:St Leonard Altar Cross.JPG, Close up of Middleton Altar Cross showing delicacy of Durst's carving File:Durst Crucifix St Peters.2 0002-1-.jpg, Altar Cross in St Peter's Church, Petersfield.Hampshire File:Northwood Clergy Stall 2.JPG, Carving on Clergy Stall in Northwood Church File:Withington Font 4.JPG, Font in St Christopher's Church Withington, Manchester File:Cambridge Image-Durst.jpg, Durst work in St Mary the Great Church File:Upright on Woodchurch Rood 1.JPG, One of the uprights of the Woodchurch Rood Screen File:Llandaff work by Durst.jpg, Llandaff Cathedral Dove File:4th View Llandaff Font.jpg, Llandaff Cathedral Font

Notes

References

External links

Biography on the Tate Gallery websitefrom this comprehensive family tree of the reverend William Gibson we learn that Durst carved the tombstones of his sister Margaret Rosa Durst (buried at Whitchurch) and brother William Herbert Durst buried at Magdalen Hill Cemetery in Winchester.A photograph of Alan Durst working on one of his pieces for Peterborough CathedralWebsite for Holy Trinity Church in Northwood

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durst, Alan 1883 births 1970 deaths Military personnel from Hampshire Modern sculptors English sculptors English male sculptors British architectural sculptors 20th-century British sculptors Associates of the Royal Academy Royal Marines personnel of World War I Royal Marines personnel of World War II Royal Marines officers