Philip Lindsey Clark

Philip Lindsey Clark (1889–1977) was an English sculptor.

Philip Lindsey Clark
Southwark War Memorial
Born1889
Brixton, London
Died1977
NationalityEnglish
EducationCheltenham School of Art, City and Guilds at Kennington, Royal Academy Schools
Known forSculpture
Notable workSculpture

Background

Philip Lindsey Clark was born in London. His father was the sculptor Robert Lindsey Clark.[1]

He worked with his father at the Cheltenham School of Art from 1905 to 1910 and then from 1910 to 1914 studied at the City and Guilds School in Kennington. He had a most distinguished war record in the First World War, winning the DSO. At the end of the war he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools to continue his training and remained there from 1919 to 1924.[2] From 1920 to 1952 he was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition[3] and from 1921 onwards at the Paris Salon. From 1930 his work became more and more of a religious nature and he became a Carmelite Tertiary. He eventually retired from London and lived in the West Country.[4][5]

Details of some of his works
Place Location Notes and
Aylesford Priory Aylesford Clark carried out sculptural work for the Priory. Here he was assisted by his son Michael Clark.[6]
St Francis Xavier Cathedral Geraldton, Western Australia Stations of the Cross. Apparently replicas of a set of Stations of the Cross in a London Church which is yet to be identified.
National Shrine of Saint Jude (England) Faversham He sculpted three statues: Saint Jude, Our Lady and Jesus. They were made for the College Chapel at Saint Mary's, Llandeilo, Wales, which was run by the Carmelites. It was then moved to two more Carmelite homes: Allington Castle, and then for the last 20 years it was based in East Finchley before finally moving to Faversham[7]
The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) War Memorial Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, Scotland The memorial commemorating The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) is located in Kelvingrove, Glasgow and was unveiled on 9 August 1924 by Field Marshal The Earl Haig. It is located just outside Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.[8]
English Martyrs' Church Wallasey, Merseyside Sculptures on the exterior of the church were by Clark.[9]
Holy Apostles Catholic Church Pimlico, London This church's Stations of the Cross are by Clark.[10]
Our Lady and St Edmund of Abingdon Abingdon, Oxfordshire Clark restored the statue of Our Lady for this church.[11]
Our Lady of Dolours Church Hendon, Middlesex Clark carved a white stone statue of Our Lady of Dolours for this church.[12]
Sacred Heart Church Sheffield, Yorkshire For Sacred Heart Church, Clark carved the Stations of the Cross, was responsible for the sculptural work on the font, created the statue of The Sacred Heart and carried out the carvings in the tympanum above the entrance door.[13]
St Augustine's Church, Ramsgate Ramsgate, Kent Sculpture of St Anthony holding the child Jesus. Attached to central column inside the western wall.
St Bonaventure Church Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire Clark carved a statue of St Bonaventure which is located over the west door of the church.[14]
St Lawrence’s Church Feltham, Middlesex Clark carved several statues for this church.[15]
St Mary's Cemetery Kensal Green, London One of Clark's works was the "Belgian Soldiers' Memorial" in St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Kensal Green, Greater London. This was unveiled on 11 December 1932 by the Ambassador of Belgium.[16][17]
St Mary’s Church Glastonbury Glastonbury, Wiltshire Designed the statue "Our Lady St Mary of Glastonbury" for the Catholic Church on Magadalene Street, Glastonbury.[18]
St Mary's Church, Warrington Warrington, Cheshire Statue of "Our Lady of Lourdes" at St Mary's, Warrington.[19]
St Richard’s Roman Catholic Church Chichester, Sussex In 1963 Clark and his son Michael created a bronze crucifix for the front of this church.[20]
Shrewsbury Cathedral Shrewsbury, Shropshire Low-relief stone Stations of the Cross, 1952.[21]
Smethwick War Memorial Smethwick, Warwickshire War Memorial to the men of Smethwick killed in the First World War. Unveiled and dedicated in 1925.[22]
Southwark War Memorial Southwark, Inner London Southwark War Memorial was unveiled by General Lord Horn of Stirkoke on 16 November 1922 and dedicated on the same day by the Bishop of Southwark.[23]
Statue of William Dennis Kirton, Lincolnshire 1930 work features William Dennis known as the "Potato King".[24]
Westminster Cathedral Westminster, London In one of his most prestigious commissions, Clark carved the figure of St George in the Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs in Westminster Cathedral.[25]
Widegate Street Spitalfields, City of London Clark completed four sculptures representing bakers on the front of the premises of the 1926 built Nordheim Model Bakery building at numbers twelve and thirteen Widegate Street. This is a George Val Myers building.[26]

Other work

Clark did other work in Sheffield apart from Sacred Heart church. One was a limestone motif and coat of arms above the main entrance to The Royal Institute of the Blind building in Mappin Street, executed in 1938. The building has been demolished, but the Clark sculpture has been kept and it was when a new Institute of the Blind building was built in Judd Street. The work was of a blindfolded head and the right hand column was topped by a hand interpreting Braille in front of a symbol for light. The work also featured the Royal coat of arms. It seems that Clark also worked on reliefs for the Gas Showrooms on Commercial Street in Sheffield.[27]

At the St Theresa Of The Child Jesus Church in Manor, Sheffield, Clark carved the stone statue of St Theresa above the main door of the church and the fourteen low relief stone Stations of the Cross inside. He also designed the internal boss in relief at the centre the dome, only visible from the sanctuary, depicting the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. He carved the wooden statues of St Theresa kneeling, St Joseph the Carpenter, The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin Mary offering the swaddled Holy Child, for the four side chapels. The wooden carvings were painted by his son Michael Clark, who also carved and painted the larger than life size crucifix of Christ the King above the high altar. All colours used in the painting was pastel, light in nature, in harmony with the light planned to flood the church by its architect John Rochford. P.L.Clark wrote in the souvenir brochure for the opening of the church, 3rd October, 1960 ( the then feast day of St .Theresa.) "What can I do but explain something of what I have tried to say in stone, with the large Statue outside of St. Theresa offering herself to God, and inside the Stations of the Cross. I would ask you particularly with the Stations to look at them not once, but until you get used to them. I have tried by the elimination of what I think to be non-essential details, to arrive at the greatest possible simplicity of treatment, thereby giving emphasis to what is expressed... You see also a contrast in the large Crucifix by my son Michael Clark, showing Our Lord as Christ The King, reigning from the cross. He has also painted for me my four wood figures. Our Lady offering to us the Holy Child, in swaddling clothes; a kneeling St Theresa, showing her love for Our Lord in the way she holds and looks at the crucifix; the Sacred Heart in all the humility of His burning love for humanity; then St. Joseph the Carpenter, guardian of the Holy Family." This collaboration between father and son together with the large amount of Clark family original works in one building, twenty individual sculptures, make the church of St. Theresa of significant cultural importance to twentieth century devotional art and Catholic history.

[28]

By 2021, the crucifix by Michael Clark, is the only remaining wooden statue in the church, the other four original Clark Family artworks have been removed and replaced by off the shelf, conventional representations, changing the original dedications of the chapels. The Lady Chapel, to the South of the Sanctuary, that once housed Clarks unique and serene representation of the Virgin with the swaddled Christ Child suspended, hovering at her breast, is now the Sacred Heart Chapel, with a heavy, traditional representation of Christ, rather than Clark's spiritual, simple and slight statue of the same subject, that was once housed in the chapel at the rear of the church, to the north west. The loss of these original artworks, and the addition of coloured, painted walls, significantly diminishes the impact of the simplicity of the original interior of the church as planned by its designers, and of the visionary priest who commissioned it and all of the art it once housed, Fr Denis McGillicuddy.

References
  1. Philip Lindsey Clark. Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851-1951. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  2. "Philip Lindsey Clark | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts". www.royalacademy.org.uk.
  3. "The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: A Chronicle, 1769-2018". Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  4. Philip Lindsey Clark DSO, FRBS Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851-1951. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  5. Philip Lindsey Clark - Biography. Sculpture of Sussex. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  6. History of the Friars. The Friars-Aylesford. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  7. Shrine Grounds - Tour. Shrine of Saint Jude Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  8. The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) UKNIWM Ref: 2136. Retrieved 21 August 2012
  9. Historic England. "Roman Catholic Church of English Martyrs (1390589)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  10. Stations of the Cross. Holy Apostles. Retrieved 21 August 2012. Note: Website with information on Clark and his work in the church
  11. Saint Edmund of Abingdon – Co-Patron with Our Lady of the Diocese of Portsmouth. Our Lady and St Edmund of Abingdon. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  12. Parish History. Our Lady of Dolours. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  13. Harman, Ruth and John Minnis. (2005). Sheffield: Pevsner City Guide. Yale University Press. p. 289. ISBN 0-300-10585-1.
  14. Statues, Memorials and Plaques in Welwyn Garden City & Hatfield. Lemsfordonline. Local and informative website which has a photograph of this work by Clark. Retrieved 21 August 2102.
  15. A Church Ablaze in Middlesex: St. Lawrence's, Feltham Catholic Archives. 8 October 1937. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  16. Barres-Baker, M.C. "Our Belgian Guests" - Refugees in Brent, 1914-1919 Brent Council. Retrieved 20 August 2012
  17. Soldiers 1914-1918 UKNIWM Ref: 11889. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  18. The Statue of Our Lady of Glastonbury. The Glastonbury Shrine. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  19. Pollard, Richard and Nikolaus Pevsner. (2006). The Buildings of England. Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 608–610. ISBN 0-300-10910-5.
  20. St Richard’s Church in Chichester. Public Sculptures of Sussex. Retrieved 21 August 2012
  21. Historic England. "Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady Help of Christians and St Peter (1270562)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  22. Smethwick War Memorial. Ukniwm website gives description and details of any inscription. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  23. Southwark War Memorial. UKNIWM Website. Reference 2120. Retrieved 21 August 2012
  24. Philip Lindsey Clark Glasgow - City of Sculpture. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  25. Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs. Westminster Cathedral. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  26. Pubs - Architectural Sculptures - London. Victorian Web. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  27. Philip Lindsay-Clark motifs and coat of arms, 1938 Public Art Research Archive, Sheffield Hallam University. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  28. Souvenir of the Solemn Opening of St. Theresa's New Church Sheffield. July,1960
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