The story of one of the outstanding figures in the British art world – and one of the very few women to break into the art establishment.
Daughter of an ordinary Army family, Dame Elisabeth Frink grew up to be an original, passionate and exceptionally talented sculptor – one of the few 20th century artists to achieve critical acclaim while remaining popular with the general public.
Frink went on from art school to take her place at the centre of Bohemian Chelsea; she married three times, had many lovers, and became friends with many of the late 20th century’s most colourful figures from the art and literary worlds.
A complex, contradictory figure of great inner strength and integrity, Frink embodied a peculiarly eccentric mixture of flamboyance and conventionality.
Gardiner’s biography focuses on the places (Suffolk, London, France and Dorset) and people (lovers, husbands, friends) that shaped her life and on the themes (men, horses, birds) and beliefs which shaped her work.
