Peter Thursby

Authors: Vivienne Light & Simon Olding

Published October 2006

Hardback 30 x 23cms, 146 pages, 136 illustrations (76 colour)

Designed by Sarah Jackson

ISBN 9780955226601

Price: £22

Mazda Fountain, 1982

Book cover image

Richly illustrated throughout, this monograph traces the life and work of the sculptor and painter, Peter Thursby (b.1930, Salisbury). His sculptures embody a power and strength which permeates not only his large architectonic forms and magnificent foundry-cast bronzes, but also his small, jewel-like pieces. After art school in the 1950s and having initially trained as a painter, Thursby went on to study sculpture. Early in his career he was Head of Art at Hele's School, Exeter, and then Exeter College. In the 1980s he left to concentrate full time on sculpture. In 1983, Thursby was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and in 1987 awarded its Silver medal. Between 1995-2000 he was President of the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) and in 1995 received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West of England.

There is a group of sculptors whose response to public commissions is both sensitive to the place but is also a natural development from their more private work. Peter is such a sculptor and he is able to work in both areas.

His work has a power through its simplicity of structure and its combination of rich metals, and his use of the delicate effect of water further emphasises the underlying nature of the pieces. In the public domain what is required now are more buildings and landscapes that will respond to his work.

Good sculpture has always been an art which makes me want to harmonize with it. I find that is just what happens with Peter Thursby's work. Richard Burton CBE (Ahrends, Burton and Koralek

His art is strong and uncompromising. It will last, because it carries weight, refinement, originality and authority. Derek Balmer, RWA President

Book Reviews

Galleries, January 08 Born, bred and educated in the West Country, former President of the RWA. Modernist sculptor Peter Thursby's reputation lies, despite a number of prestigious national and international public commissions, very much within the region. This is a great pity, for his elegant yet muscular sculpture, essentially a subtle fusion of the organic and mechanical, deserves to be much better known, as a new book (Canterton Books) and retrospective exhibition at the Dorset County Museum demonstrates. Nicholas Usherwood

Time Out, February 28 th 2007 Specialising in biographic, career-defining monographs of little-known British artists, Vivienne Light here focuses on the totemic work of 77 year old West country sculptor. {early influences] make way for his own mature, streamlined, spiky aluminium, bronze and silver constructions…his reliance on corporate commissions reveals the worrying trend in art that elevates a few artists as all-conquering heroes while sweeping the rest under the carpet to fend for themselves. Next rtime you whiz past Thursby's imposing bronze fountain in the forecourt of the McDonald's HQ in East Finchley, spare a thought for the talented but overlooked. Ossian Ward.

www.peterthursbysculptor.co.uk

Peter Thursby is now represented by Anthony Hepworth Fine Art Dealers Ltd., Bath