Freda Nellie Skinner (31 January 1911 – 19 July 1993) was a British sculptor and woodcarver who was head of sculpture at

Wimbledon School of Art Wimbledon College of Arts, formerly Wimbledon School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college specialises in theatre, screen and performance arts and design ...

from 1945 to 1971. Skinner was born in

Warlingham Warlingham is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, south of London and east of Guildford. Warlingham is the centre of a civil parish that includes Hamsey Green to the north. Caterham is to the southwest ...

, Surrey, where her father, Norman, had a farm; she showed an early interest in art at age 11 with a pair of paintings of a prized Champion Devon Red bull and a cow. She studied under

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

and Alan Durst at

The Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, her course fees being met, in part, by neighbours including

Ethel Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name. Etymology and historic usage The word means ''æthel'' "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, ...

and

Sybil Pye Sybil Pye (18 November 1879 – 1958) was a self-trained British bookbinder famous for her distinctive inlay Art Deco leather bindings. She was, along with Katharine Adams and Sarah Prideaux, one of the most famous women bookbinders of their pe ...

. She then went on to teach toy making and sculpture at

Kingston School of Art The Kingston School of Art (KSA) is an art school in Kingston upon Thames, part of Kingston University London. It was first established in 1899 as the Kingston School of Science and Art. In 1930 it was established as a separate school and has b ...

, and was head of sculpture at Wimbledon School of Art 1945 to 1971. She was a Fellow of the

Royal Society of British Sculptors The Royal Society of Sculptors (RSS) is a British charity established in 1905, which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road in South Kensington, Lo ...

and a member of the Society of Portrait Sculptors. Her 1972 sculpture ''Virgin and Child'' is in the Lady Chapel of St Elphege's Church, Wallington, south London. She also carved the foundation stone for the Barbican Art Centre in central London, in 1972. She exhibited at the

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...

six times, and also at the Architects Association,

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park. Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', ...

Orangery,

Mall Galleries Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian zone * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Bromley), London, United Kingdom * The Mall (Patna), Bihar, India * The Mall (Sofia), ...

The London Group The London Group is a society based in London, England, created to offer additional exhibiting opportunities to artists besides the Royal Academy of Arts. Formed in 1913, it is one of the oldest artist-led organisations in the world. It was form ...

, Suffolk Galleries, Bruton Street Gallery and Wykeham Galleries. In 1993 there was a retrospective exhibition of her work at the Bruton Street Gallery in central London. Two of her jigsaw works for Abbatt Toys are held in the V&A. In 1944 she was recorded living at The Ivy House, French Street,

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames, known locally as Sunbury, is a town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other su ...

, then at 35 and later 79 Deodar Road,

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

, from the late 1940s to about 1981. She moved to Amesbury in Wiltshire in 1981 and died in

West Amesbury West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

, Wiltshire on 19 July 1993.

Gallery

File:Dulwich, St Thomas More Church, Madonna and Child.jpg, Madonna and Child File:Richmond, St John the Divine, Stations of the Cross XII.jpg, Stations of the Cross XII, St John the Divine File:Roundwood Park, The Spirit of Youth by Freda Skinner (1).jpg, The Spirit of Youth File:St. Mary's Church, Battersea, Parish war memorial.jpg, War memorial, Battersea

Works exhibited at the Royal Academy

Selected works

Bibliography

*''Woodcarving'' (1961) New York: Sterling Pub. Co

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Freda 1911 births 1993 deaths 20th-century British sculptors Alumni of the Royal College of Art Academics of Wimbledon College of Arts Artists from Surrey 20th-century British women sculptors