Jon Edgar is a British sculptor of the

Frink School The Frink School of Figurative Sculpture was an art school in Leek, Staffordshire. It was named after Elisabeth Frink Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' ...

Improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

is an important part of his reductive working process and developed from the additive working process of

Alan Thornhill Alan Thornhill (1921 – March 4, 2020) was a British artist and sculptor whose long association with clay developed from pottery into sculpture. His output includes pottery, small and large scale sculptures, portrait heads, paintings and dr ...

. Final works are often autobiographical, perhaps referencing anxieties or pre-occupations at the time. His body of work includes many clay portrait sketches of eminent sitters.

Biography

Born 1968 in

Rustington Rustington is a small town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex. Rustington is approximately at the midpoint of the West Sussex coast and midway between the county town of Chichester and Brighton. The A259 runs along the north ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, the grandson of animator Brian White. He studied at both

Exeter University , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

and

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

before attending the former

of Figurative Sculpture for two years from 2000, being awarded The Discerning Eye national bursary for his studies. The ''

Environment Triptych ''Environment Triptych'' The ''Environment Triptych'', by sculptor Jon Edgar, is a group of three portrait heads of environmental thinkers of the day. First assembled in 2008, it is composed of the terracotta heads of James Lovelock, proposer of t ...

'' (2008) features portraits of the independent scientist

James Lovelock James Ephraim Lovelock (26 July 1919 – 26 July 2022) was an English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating sys ...

(who sat in Devon in 2007), moral philosopher Mary Midgley (sitting in Newcastle in 2006) and writer

Richard Mabey Richard Thomas Mabey (born 20 February 1941) is a writer and broadcaster, chiefly on the relations between nature and culture. Education Mabey was educated at three independent schools, all in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The first was at Roth ...

(sitting in Norfolk in 2007). Entrepreneur and co-founder of Cass Sculpture Foundation

Wilfred Cass Wilfred Cass CBE FRSA (11 November 1924 – 18 April 2022) co-founded the Cass Sculpture Foundation. Biography Cass was born in Berlin and came from the Jewish Cassirer family. His great uncle, Paul Cassirer, was a significant dealer for the impr ...

sat at Goodwood in 2008. In 2009 the first sittings for the ''

Environment Series The Environment Series Heads developed from the Environment Triptych portrait sculptures by Jon Edgar in 2006. His ongoing series of terracotta clay portraits celebrates those contributing to a sustainable future on Earth. The sculptor observes the ...

'' heads took place, marking some of those who have contributed to a potential better future, with Professor

Chris Rapley Christopher Graham Rapley (born 8 April 1947) is a British scientist and scientific administrator. He is Professor of Climate Science at University College London, a member of the Academia Europaea, Chair of the European Science Foundation's E ...

CBE sitting in Fittleworth,

Tim Smit Sir Timothy Bartel Smit KBE (born 25 September 1954) is a Dutch-born British businessman, famous for his work on the Lost Gardens of Heligan, the Eden Project, and the Charlestown Shipwreck & Treasure Centre, all in Cornwall, England. Early li ...

CBE in

Fowey Fowey ( ; kw, Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees') is a port town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local ch ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Peter Randall-Page Peter Randall-Page RA (born 1954) is a British artist and sculptor, known for his stone sculpture work, inspired by geometric patterns from nature. In his words "geometry is the theme on which nature plays her infinite variations, fundamental m ...

and

Guy Watson Guy Singh-Watson (born Guy Watson, 1960) is a British farmer and founder and creator of Riverford, an organic farm and UK-wide organic vegetable box delivery company. Biography Singh-Watson was born in Totnes. He was brought up on Riverford Far ...

in Devon,

Gordon Murray Ian Gordon Murray (born 18 June 1946 in Durban, Union of South Africa), is a South African-born British designer of Formula One racing cars and the McLaren F1 road car. He is the founder and CEO of Gordon Murray Automotive. Early life Born t ...

in Surrey and

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elected ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

. In 2010, clay from the parish of Compton, Guildford was used for portraits of potter

Mary Wondrausch Mary Wondrausch (17 December 1923 – 26 December 2016) was an English artist, potter, historian and writer, born in Chelsea, London, Chelsea. She trained as a potter at Farnham School of Art, latterly West Surrey College of Art and Design. S ...

and former

Watts Gallery Watts Gallery – Artists' Village is an art gallery in the village of Compton, near Guildford in Surrey. It is dedicated to the work of the Victorian-era painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts. The gallery has been Grade II* listed on th ...

curator

Richard Jefferies John Richard Jefferies (6 November 1848 – 14 August 1887) was an English nature writer, noted for his depiction of English rural life in essays, books of natural history, and novels. His childhood on a small Wiltshire farm had a great influ ...

both of which became integrated into the

Compton Triptych image:Compton-triptych-2011-terracotta-sculptor-Jon-Edgar.jpg, 300px, ''Compton Triptych'' The Compton Triptych comprises three terracotta portrait heads, plinthed together, which celebrates the parish of Compton, Guildford, and the diverse figures ...

. Wood from the felled Highgrove Cedar of Lebanon at Highgrove House given by Charles, Prince of Wales has produced three sculptures in 2010 and 2011. An interesting stone was discovered by Edgar in 2012, being used as a planter in a West Sussex garden. It was subsequently identified as an important Roman sculpture on the theme of ''

Iphigenia in Tauris ''Iphigenia in Tauris'' ( grc, Ἰφιγένεια ἐν Ταύροις, ''Iphigeneia en Taurois'') is a drama by the playwright Euripides, written between 414 BC and 412 BC. It has much in common with another of Euripides's plays, ''Helen'', as w ...

''. A posthumous bust of Lancelot

Capability Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English la ...

was created for the tercentenary of Brown’s death. Working forensically from the secondary source evidence of contemporary paintings and sketches, the terracotta head was launched in London in 2016 and then exhibited at

Stowe House Stowe House is a grade I listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school and is owned by the Stowe House Preservation Trust who have to date (March 2013) spent more than £25m on th ...

, now

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...

Work in public collections

Portraits of Antarctic explorer and broadcaster Duncan Carse exist in public collections in South Georgia Museum, funded by the South Georgia Association, South Atlantic and at the

Scott Polar Research Institute The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is a centre for research into the polar regions and glaciology worldwide. It is a sub-department of the Department of Geography in the University of Cambridge, located on Lensfield Road in the south o ...

, Cambridge University, UK. A bronze of Philippa Scott was unveiled at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

Slimbridge Slimbridge is a village and civil parish near Dursley in Gloucestershire, England. It is best known as the home of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's WWT Slimbridge, Slimbridge Reserve which was started by Sir Peter Scott. Canal and Patch Bridg ...

visitor centre in December 2011. A relief carving of a snake charmer was acquired by

Surrey University The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The instituti ...

Art Collection in 2012. ’Lewes Group (2010)’: Southover Grange Gardens,

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

‘Portal (2013)’:

Hindhead Hindhead is a village in Surrey, England. It is the highest village in Surrey, with buildings at between 185 and 253 metres above sea level. It is best known as the location of the Devil's Punch Bowl, a beauty spot and site of special scientific ...

‘Trisantonis (2014)’: RSPB

Pulborough Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north–south ...

Brooks A 3 tonne

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

block has been worked in public over 2014/5 at Slindon,

and was permanently placed in the National Trust’s replanted historic Northwood. A new 7 tonne

block was worked on site at

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

in the Sussex

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

throughout 2019, in response to the environment and involving the local community. In September 2021, a new oak block was begun at the end of lockdown in

Sutton, West Sussex Sutton is a village and civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England, located six kilometres (4 miles) south of Petworth and east of the A285 road. The parish has a land area of 920 hectares (2272 acres). In ...

Film appearances

The documentary film on sculptor

; ''Spirit in Mass - Journey into Sculpture'', which was produced in 2007 with funding from Screen South and UK Film Council, features former students of the

, including Edgar talking about Thornhill's influence on his own work. The creation of the Stephen Duffy head was coincidentally documented during the filming of the Douglas Arrowsmith documentary ''Memory & Desire: 30 Years in the Wilderness with Stephen Duffy & the Lilac Time''. The film was released at the London Raindance Film Festival in October 2009. The terracotta sculpture forms the CD cover image for the 2009 album by the same name. The 2006 Herefordshire Jigsaw Sculpture outreach project is documented on film.

Articles and publications

''Petworth Society Magazine'' No. 176, pp. 38–41, June 2019 - ‘’Freelance; the role of art and artist in society'' J.Edgar, Foreword M. Imms (2016). ''A South Downs Year: Creation of the Slindon Stone - The Sculptor’s Journal'' (Hesworth Press) P.Hall, M.Scott, H. Pheby (2013). ''Jon Edgar - Sculpture Series Heads - Terracotta Portraits of Contributors to British Sculpture'' (Hesworth Press in association with The Lightbox and Yorkshire Sculpture Park) E. Black, J. Edgar, K.M.J. Hayward and M. Henig (2012). A New Sculpture of Iphigenia in Tauris. ''Britannia: A Journal of Romano-British and Kindred Studies'', 43, pp 243–249 doi:10.1017/S0068113X12000244 (Cambridge Journals) ''Lady Scott Commemorated''; Waterlife; April/June 2012 p. 9. ''A Decade of Sculpture in the Garden'', Harold Martin Botanic Garden University of Leicester (2011) p. 30. Meet the artist, ''Surrey Life'' November 2011 p. 156 Archant Press The ''Petworth Magazine'' No. 139, pp. 11–12 2010 - ''Petworth Marble - an update'' The ''Jackdaw Magazine'' Nov/Dec 2009 - ''Portrait Sculpture: A Neglected Form?'' p. 10. The ''Petworth Magazine'' No. 132, pp. 10–11 2008 - ''A contemporary search for Petworth Marble'' Responses - Carvings and Claywork (2008) has a foreword by Sir Roy Strong and features other terracotta portraits of eminent sitters who all agreed to sit for Edgar including sculptors

Nicolas Moreton Nicolas Moreton (born in 1961 in Watford, Hertfordshire) is a British artist. Predominantly a stone carver, two of his sculptures are in permanent public locations in Milton Keynes. A National Stone Carving residency around four English cathedral ...

and Ken Ford, historian Sir Roy Strong, conservationist Lady Philippa Scott (widow of Sir Peter Scott), entrepreneur

Stuart Wheeler John Stuart Wheeler (30 January 193523 July 2020) was a British financier, gambler and political activist. He made his fortune as the founder of the spread betting firm IG Index in 1974, but was best known for his political activism, being a m ...

, industrialist Sir

John Harvey-Jones Sir John Harvey-Jones MBE (16 April 1924 – 9 January 2008) was an English businessman. He was the chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries from 1982 to 1987. He was best known by the public for his BBC television show, '' Troubleshooter' ...

and songwriter and musician Stephen Duffy.

Timothy Mowl Professor Timothy Mowl FSA (born 1951) is an architectural and landscape historian. He is Emeritus Professor of History of Architecture and Designed Landscapes at the University of Bristol. He is also Director of AHC Consultants. He was awarded th ...

's 2007 publication on the Historic Gardens of Oxfordshire includes the landscape of

Asthall Manor Asthall Manor is a gabled Jacobean Cotswold manor house in Asthall, Oxfordshire. It was built in about 1620 and altered and enlarged in about 1916. The house is Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England. Early in the 20th century, ...

, home to the biennial

stone sculpture A stone sculpture is an object made of stone which has been shaped, usually by carving, or assembled to form a visually interesting three-dimensional shape. Stone is more durable than most alternative materials, making it especially important in ...

event where reference is made to Edgar "coaxing his stone into semi-figurative forms of brooding power, as in his 'Wight Man'." and 'Arch'.

References

External links