Jon Edgar is a British sculptor of the
Frink School
The Frink School of Figurative Sculpture was an art school in Leek, Staffordshire. It was named after the British sculptor Elisabeth Frink (1930–1993). It was a small academy with a specific discipline of study closer in spirit to a ''master ...
.
Improvisation
Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...
is an important part of his reductive working process and developed from the additive working process of
Alan Thornhill. Final works are often autobiographical, perhaps referencing anxieties or pre-occupations at the time. His body of work includes many clay portrait sketches of eminent sitters.
Biography
Born 1968 in
Rustington
Rustington is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex. Rustington is approximately at the midpoint of the West Sussex coast and midway between Chichester and Brighton. The A259 runs along the north of Rustington, west ...
,
West Sussex
West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...
, the grandson of animator
Brian White. He studied at both
Exeter University
The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School o ...
and
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
before attending the former
Frink School
The Frink School of Figurative Sculpture was an art school in Leek, Staffordshire. It was named after the British sculptor Elisabeth Frink (1930–1993). It was a small academy with a specific discipline of study closer in spirit to a ''master ...
of Figurative Sculpture for two years from 2000, being awarded The Discerning Eye national bursary for his studies.
The ''
Environment Triptych'' (2008) features portraits of the independent scientist
James Lovelock
James Ephraim Lovelock (26 July 1919 – 26 July 2022) was an English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating syst ...
(who sat in Devon in 2007), moral philosopher
Mary Midgley
Mary Beatrice Midgley (' Scrutton; 13 September 1919 – 10 October 2018) was a British philosopher. A senior lecturer in philosophy at Newcastle University, she was known for her work on science, ethics and animal rights. She wrote her first b ...
(sitting in Newcastle in 2006) and writer
Richard Mabey
Richard Thomas Mabey (born 20 February 1941) is a writer and broadcaster, chiefly on the relations between nature and culture.
Education
Mabey was educated at three independent schools, all in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The first was at Roth ...
(sitting in Norfolk in 2007). Entrepreneur and co-founder of Cass Sculpture Foundation
Wilfred Cass sat at Goodwood in 2008.
In 2009 the first sittings for the ''
Environment Series
The Environment Series Heads developed from the Environment Triptych portrait sculptures by Jon Edgar in 2006. His ongoing series of terracotta clay portraits celebrates those contributing to a sustainable future on Earth. The sculptor observes the ...
'' heads took place, marking some of those who have contributed to a potential better future, with Professor
Chris Rapley CBE sitting in
Fittleworth
Fittleworth is a village and civil parish in the Chichester (district), District of Chichester in West Sussex, England located west from Pulborough on the A283 road and south east from Petworth. The village has an Anglican church, a primary s ...
,
West Sussex
West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...
,
Tim Smit CBE in
Fowey
Fowey ( ; , meaning ''beech trees'') is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, ...
,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
,
Peter Randall-Page and
Guy Watson in Devon,
Gordon Murray in Surrey and
Caroline Lucas
Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who was the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2003 to 2006, 2007 to 2012, and 2016 to 2018. She was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parli ...
in
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
,
East Sussex
East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...
.
In 2010, clay from the parish of
Compton, Guildford
Compton is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Guildford (borough), Guildford district of Surrey, England. It is between Godalming and Guildford. It has a medieval church and a close connection to fine art and pottery, ...
was used for portraits of potter
Mary Wondrausch and former
Watts Gallery curator
Richard Jefferies
John Richard Jefferies (6 November 1848 – 14 August 1887) was an English nature writer, noted for his depiction of English rural life in essays, books of natural history, and novels. His childhood on a small Wiltshire farm had a great influ ...
both of which became integrated into the
Compton Triptych.
Wood from the felled
Highgrove Cedar of Lebanon at
Highgrove House
Highgrove House is the family residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It lies southwest of Tetbury in Gloucestershire, England. Built in the late 18th century, Highgrove and its estate were owned by various families until it was pu ...
given by
Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...
has produced three sculptures in 2010 and 2011.
An interesting stone was discovered by Edgar in 2012, being used as a planter in a West Sussex garden. It was subsequently identified as an important Roman sculpture on the theme of ''
Iphigenia in Tauris
''Iphigenia in Tauris'' (, ''Iphigeneia en Taurois'') is a drama by the playwright Euripides, written between 414 BC and 412 BC. It has much in common with another of Euripides's plays, ''Helen (play), Helen'', as well as the lost play ''Andromed ...
''.
A posthumous bust of Lancelot
Capability Brown
Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style.
Unlike other architects ...
was created for the tercentenary of Brown's death. Working forensically from the secondary source evidence of contemporary paintings and sketches, the terracotta head was launched in London in 2016 and then exhibited at
Stowe House
Stowe House is a grade I listed building, listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of the Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Stowe School and is owned by the Stowe House Preserv ...
, now
Stowe School
The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...
.
Work in public collections
Portraits of Antarctic explorer and broadcaster
Duncan Carse
Verner Duncan Carse (28 July 1913 – 2 May 2004) was an English explorer and actor known for surveying South Georgia Island, South Georgia and for the portrayal of Special Agent Dick Barton on BBC Radio.
Early life
Carse was born on 28 July 1 ...
exist in public collections in
South Georgia Museum
The South Georgia Museum is situated in Grytviken, near the administrative centre of the UK overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Polar explorers Ernest Shackleton and Frank Wild are buried in Grytviken's graveyard. ...
, funded by the South Georgia Association, South Atlantic and at the
Scott Polar Research Institute
The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is a centre for research into the polar regions and glaciology worldwide. It is a sub-department of the Department of Geography in the University of Cambridge, located on Lensfield Road in the south ...
, Cambridge University, UK. A bronze of
Philippa Scott was unveiled at the
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Slimbridge
Slimbridge is a village and civil parish near Dursley in Gloucestershire, England.
It is best known as the home of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's Slimbridge Reserve which was started by Sir Peter Scott.
Canal and Patch Bridge
The Glou ...
visitor centre in December 2011. A relief carving of a snake charmer was acquired by
Surrey University Art Collection in 2012.
’Lewes Group (2010)’: Southover Grange Gardens,
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...
‘Portal (2013)’:
Hindhead
‘Trisantonis (2014)’: RSPB
Pulborough Brooks
A 3 tonne
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...
block has been worked in public over 2014/5 at
Slindon,
West Sussex
West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...
and was permanently placed in the National Trust's replanted historic Northwood.
A new 7 tonne
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...
block was worked on site at
Horsham
Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
in the Sussex
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High W ...
throughout 2019, in response to the environment and involving the local community. In September 2021, a new oak block was begun at the end of lockdown in
Sutton, West Sussex.
Film appearances
The documentary film on sculptor
Alan Thornhill; ''Spirit in Mass - Journey into Sculpture'', which was produced in 2007 with funding from Screen South and UK Film Council, features former students of the
Frink School
The Frink School of Figurative Sculpture was an art school in Leek, Staffordshire. It was named after the British sculptor Elisabeth Frink (1930–1993). It was a small academy with a specific discipline of study closer in spirit to a ''master ...
, including Edgar talking about
Thornhill's influence on his own work.
The creation of the
Stephen Duffy
Stephen Anthony James Duffy (born 30 May 1960 in Alum Rock, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England) is an English musician, singer and songwriter of Irish ancestry. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist, and then drummer of Duran Duran. He we ...
head was coincidentally documented during the filming of the
Douglas Arrowsmith documentary ''Memory & Desire: 30 Years in the Wilderness with Stephen Duffy & the Lilac Time''. The film was released at the London Raindance Film Festival in October 2009.
The terracotta sculpture forms the CD cover image for the 2009 album by the same name.
The 2006 Herefordshire Jigsaw Sculpture outreach project is documented on film.
Articles and publications

''Petworth Society Magazine'' No. 176, pp. 38–41, June 2019 - ''Freelance; the role of art and artist in society''
J.Edgar, Foreword M. Imms (2016). ''A South Downs Year: Creation of the Slindon Stone - The Sculptor’s Journal'' (Hesworth Press)
P.Hall, M.Scott, H. Pheby (2013). ''Jon Edgar - Sculpture Series Heads - Terracotta Portraits of Contributors to British Sculpture'' (Hesworth Press in association with The Lightbox and Yorkshire Sculpture Park)
E. Black, J. Edgar, K.M.J. Hayward and M. Henig (2012). A New Sculpture of Iphigenia in Tauris.
''Britannia: A Journal of Romano-British and Kindred Studies'', 43, pp 243–249 doi:10.1017/S0068113X12000244 (Cambridge Journals)
''Lady Scott Commemorated''; Waterlife; April/June 2012 p. 9.
''A Decade of Sculpture in the Garden'', Harold Martin Botanic Garden University of Leicester (2011) p. 30.
Meet the artist, ''Surrey Life'' November 2011 p. 156 Archant Press
The ''Petworth Magazine'' No. 139, pp. 11–12 2010 - ''Petworth Marble - an update''
The ''Jackdaw Magazine'' Nov/Dec 2009 - ''Portrait Sculpture: A Neglected Form?'' p. 10.
The ''Petworth Magazine'' No. 132, pp. 10–11 2008 - ''A contemporary search for Petworth Marble''
Responses - Carvings and Claywork (2008) has a foreword by Sir
Roy Strong
Sir Roy Colin Strong, (born 23 August 1935) is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has served as director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. ...
and features other terracotta portraits of eminent sitters who all agreed to sit for Edgar including sculptors
Alan Thornhill,
Nicolas Moreton and
Ken Ford, historian Sir
Roy Strong
Sir Roy Colin Strong, (born 23 August 1935) is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has served as director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. ...
, conservationist Lady
Philippa Scott (widow of Sir
Peter Scott
Sir Peter Markham Scott (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservation movement, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and Sportsperson, sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Fal ...
), entrepreneur
Stuart Wheeler, industrialist Sir
John Harvey-Jones and songwriter and musician
Stephen Duffy
Stephen Anthony James Duffy (born 30 May 1960 in Alum Rock, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England) is an English musician, singer and songwriter of Irish ancestry. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist, and then drummer of Duran Duran. He we ...
.
Timothy Mowl's 2007 publication on the Historic Gardens of Oxfordshire includes the landscape of
Asthall Manor
Asthall Manor is a gabled Jacobean Cotswold manor house in Asthall, Oxfordshire. It was built in about 1620 and altered and enlarged in about 1916. The house is Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England.
Early in the 20th centu ...
, home to the biennial
stone sculpture
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...
event where reference is made to Edgar "coaxing his stone into semi-figurative forms of brooding power, as in his 'Wight Man'." and 'Arch'.
References
Further reading
*Beckingham, Peter, ''South Downs Showcase - 200 Years of Creativity around Lodsworth, Petworth and Midhurst'', Lodsworth Heritage Society, 2021
*Mabey, Richard, ''Turning The Boat For Home - A Life Writing About Nature'' published Penguin Random House 2019 - an account of the portrait sitting and patination of bronze (Prologue X-XII)
*Blythe, Ronald, ‘’Stour Seasons’’ Canterbury Press, 2016 p.95-6 'Jon Edgar Brings My Bust'
*Blythe, Ronald, ‘’Decadal’', Enitharmon Press, 2015 - portrait head of Blythe in frontispiece
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/view_as/grid/search/keyword:jon-edgar--makers:jon-edgar-b1968
''Sculptors 1986-2016'' (2017) Miriquidi Books ; foreword by
Peter Murray (Yorkshire Sculpture Park) and Adrian Glew, archivist at
Tate Gallery
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
External links
illustrated web archiveprofile by Fran Monks; How to Make a DifferenceJon Edgar, sculptor for Hindhead A3D - A Creative Legacy, 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar, Jon
English sculptors
English male sculptors
1968 births
Alumni of the University of Exeter
Alumni of the University of London
Alumni of Imperial College London
Alumni of Wye College
People from Fittleworth
Living people
People from Rustington