Josefina de Vasconcellos
Encyclopedia : J : JO : JOS : Josefina de Vasconcellos
Josefina de Vasconcellos (1904 - 2005) was an English sculptor, from Brazilian origin. She was until recently the world's oldest living sculptor. She married the artist Delmar Banner in 1930. Has lived in Cumbria much of her working life. Her work includes 'Reconciliation' at Coventry Cathedral and Bradford University, 'Holy Family' at Liverpool Cathedral and Gloucester Cathedral, 'Mary and Child' at St Paul's Cathedral, London, 'Nativity' (at Christmas) at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, London, and many more.
Josefina de Vasconcellos father was a wealthy Brazilian diplomat who helped ensure Josefina was able to develop her artistic talents through a childhood shared between England and Brazil. In 1921 she gained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Art and was soon sufficiently expressive in stone carving to be placed as runner-up in the 1930 Prix de Rome contest. And at the age of 19 she was accepted to the Grand Chaumiere in Paris where she studied under Antoine Bourdelle, one of Auguste Rodin's assistants. In 1930 she was drawn to the artist Delmar Banner, who was also an Anglican lay priest, and whom she later married. He led her to be baptised into the Anglican church, a faith that has run through much of her artistic work.
They adopted two boys, and the family settled in a farmhouse at The Bield in Little Langdale at the heart of the Lake District. She carved in an outhouse at the farm while Delmar painted dramatic landscapes from the summits of the Lakeland fells. In 1967 through associations with Pelham House approved school in West Cumbria the family helped found Outpost Emmaus an outward bound type of centre at Beckstones in the Duddon Valley for disadvantaged boys. It was such work that led to Josefina being honoured with the MBE.
There were numerous large commissions that expressed Josefina's flowing naturalistic carving. This was at a time when mainstream sculptured art was toying with the more abstract styles of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
In 1988 illness forced Josefina to leave Little Langdale and for a time she was accommodated at Isel Hall near Cockermouth. Then she was able to find a small cottage and studio at Peggy Hill, Ambleside. She continued her creative work into her 90s.
Josefina died peacefully at 6am on Wednesday 20th July 2005, a few months after her 100th birthday, at Orchard Lodge nursing home in Blackpool. She moved there at the end of June after spending most of her life in the Lake District.
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.